Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: The Brotherhood
by penguingod777
Summary: The world is nothing more then a dry, hot wasteland. Many pokemon are either extinct, or have become carnivorous 'wild' pokemon, and humans have completely disappeared. The Brotherhood fights everyday to ensure the safety of the remaining few survivors.
1. Lost and Found

Revised: December 10th, 2008

-

For new readers…

"_This" is speech_

_This _is someone thinking

_**This **_is something written (like in a letter, or on a sign)

Chapter 1: Lost and Found

Somewhere deep underground, in a place called Tiny Ruins, a lone explorer wandered the maze like hallways. Not a human explorer, but a pokemon, a Chikorita to be exact.

She let out a bored sigh, "This stinks, what a waste of time!" She said to herself. Chikorita had been exploring for days looking for food, water, treasure, anything, but had no luck at all so far finding anything.

When she stumbled across this place, she figured it would have something valuable inside. The ruins was a small mystery dungeon, places where wild pokemon lived.

Frustrated at the situation, she didn't even notice another pokemon was sneaking behind her.

"Grrr, I hate this place!" She said to herself. "So hot and dusty… Where are all the wild pokemon? I thought mystery dungeons were full of them!"

The pokemon that was behind her let put a cry and rushed forward, about to attack. The Chikorita heard the pokemon, and just in time, dodged its tackle. "That's more like it!"

The wild pokemon in question was a Weedle, Chikorita knew it was weak, but with its poisonous horn, she definitely had to be careful fighting it.

Weedle turned around and looked around expecting to find the Chikorita behind it, but she had disappeared.

"Surprise!" She had jumped! Before Weedle could do anything, Chikorita crushed the Weedle. The bug was dazed from the sudden attack, giving Chikorita the time needed to quickly finished it off with a quick tackle. The Weedle went flying, landing in an awkward heap. The bug was out for the count.

"Yeah! Don't mess with me!"

Forgetting about the unconscious Weedle, she continued her trip down the long dusty hallway and reached a room, empty except for a set of stairs going deeper into the ruins.

"I hope this is the last floor."

---

Location: Outside Tiny Ruins

"Is this the place?"

A Charmander was talking into a small radio like device. The radio crackled with thick static.

"Yes" Said the voice on the radio "The subject should be in those ruins according to our scans. Have your team bring him back immediately, ALIVE!"

"Roger, we're going in now."

A second later the static stopped, the radio was shut off. The Charmander turned to the pokemon waiting behind him, a Raticate and Gastly.

"Ok, here's the mission. In this place is pokemon that the boss needs us to bring back to him."

Raticate interrupted him "Why? What makes this guy so important? This…" Charmander responded with a glare, Raticate stepped away and didn't continue.

"Do not question me or the boss, if he wants this guy, he has a good reason, no matter what that reason is. Got that?" Raticate nodded. "Then lets go, Gastly and you go up ahead, I'll hang back in case it try's to escape. Do not fail me you two, otherwise you'll be punished, and it will be painful."

Raticate gulped, familiar to being punished. Both of them promptly rushed down into the ruins to find the pokemon.

---

Location: Basement of Tiny Ruins

"Whew, finally!" Chikorita had reached the bottom of the ruins, she looked around and saw some shelves and cabinets where food, water and other treasures would be stored. She started to walk towards where the stuff was when a loud noise caught her attention.

"Look what we have here!" The sound came from a rock pokemon, it had disguised itself as rubble. The huge pokemon was a Graveler. "A little morsel has wandered into my home. Good thing too, I was getting hungry.

"You wanna eat little old me?" Chikorita said this without fear, she sounded like she was mocking the giant. Whether it noticed the tone in her voice, she couldn't tell. "You'll have to fight me first!"

The Graveler then laughed, without saying more he tucked into a ball and began to roll towards Chikorita. Right before the giant crushed her, she jumped over it. "Haha!" She laughed, she was toying with the Graveler.

"Grrrrr, I'll enjoy crushing you, stupid little…"

Chikorita interrupted. "Oh I'm stupid huh? I bet you can't even count to four! You're an embarrassment to the name pokemon!"

Graveler roared, "I can so. Listen! One... Two... Three…"

Chikorita didn't let him finish, instead she twirled the leaf on her head and launched it at the Graveler, it was her favorite attack, razor leaf. "Four! Ha! Who's the stupid one now?" Then the razor leaf bounced off what Chikorita thought was its forehead, took one unsteady step backwards, then fell over making a loud thump.

Chikorita walked over to the unconscious Graveler. "Still you!"

---

Location: Somewhere in Tiny Ruins

Raticate and Gastly found themselves in the same room they had been in only five minutes ago, Raticate's footprints still visible on the dusty ground.

"Uhh, Gastly?"

"Yeah?"

"Where are we?"

"Lost."

After a short, awkward pause, Raticate said to Gastly. "Were gonna be in some much trouble.."

Both letting out a sad groan, they continued to wander, lost in the mystery dungeons confusing hallways, hoping at the last minute they would find the way down.

---

Location: Basement of Tiny Ruins

Chikorita was not disappointed with what she found. It seemed the Graveler had been collecting things from unfortunate travelers. Located all over the place, there was jugs of water, boxes of fresh fruit, and best of all, money, lots of money, 5000 poke at the very least.

Chikorita jumped in the pile of coins, throwing it the air excitedly. "Yeeeeeeeaaaaaah! And I thought this was going to be another waste of time!"

In all the excitement, the Chikorita forgot to explore the rest of the room, that was until a soft moan was heard, it sounded close.

"Hmmm?" Chikorita lost focus of the cash, and noticed a very old, rotten looking door leading to another room.

She heard another moan, definitely coming from behind the door. The sound was very faint though, what ever was making it wasn't in the best of health. "Hello?" She went over and opened the door, the thing nearly falling off the hinges. The room was tiny, and empty, except for a single yellow lump on the floor. _A pokemon?_ She thought.

Another groan, then silence. It was a pokemon, but one Chikorita didn't recognize. It was yellow, except for its red cheeks, and it had a tail shaped like a bolt of lightning. _Obviously an electric type, but which one?_

She walked up to it and poked it, it didn't move. She poked again, it didn't wake up or react, but from what she could tell, it was alive. "I guess I'll take you back to town, you big yellow pain in the butt…"

Chikorita scooped up the pokemon onto her back, was a little heavy, but she could manage the trip. _But…_

"What about all my new stuff?" She wouldn't be able to take anything now, the pokemon wasn't heavy, but heavy enough she wouldn't be able to take much stuff back with her. She put what she could in her bag, and pocketed as much cash as she could. "You better say thank you after this."

In the back was the exit, the door could only be entered one way, so if she came back she would have to go back through the mystery dungeon again, and by then another pokemon could claim everything.

She took one last look at the loot she left behind, and walked outside.

---

Location: Outside Tiny Ruins

"Where are you two idiots?" Charmander was once again talking on the radio, this time to Raticate and Gastly.

The one on the radio was Gastly. "We seem to be somewhere on the… 3rd floor of the ruins."

"WHAT! You're still FIVE floors from the basement? What have you idiots been doing?!"

A short pause, whispers between the 'idiots' could faintly be heard on the radio, then Gastly said. "We're lost."

The Charmander threw the radio at the ground and stomped it flat.

"When I find you two, I'm going to DESTROY the both of you!" As if to illustrate his point, he breath a powerful flamethrower into the sky. Charmander then stomped into the mystery dungeon to find them, and make them feel a lot of hurt.

---

Location: Outside Tiny Ruins (Behind the ruins)

Before going anywhere, Chikorita took out a map from her bag and planned out her journey from here to where she wanted to go. The town was small, but it had a small hospital she hoped could help the pokemon.

The pokemon on her back moaned again. "Hang on, won't be long now."

---

Location: Middle of the wasteland

The pokemon was relatively quiet now. Chikorita made sure to check him once in a while to make sure he was still alive.

Her supplies we're extremely low, she had half an apple left, and barely two mouthfuls of water. If she didn't reach the town soon, both pokemon would be lost in the sandy wasteland.

During one of her stops, she could swear she could hear music in the distance, but she chalked it up as just a hallucination.

"Great, now I'm going crazy. I hope this wasn't just a big mistake."

---

Location: Tiny Ruins

"Ok, I'm sparing you idiots any more punishment for now. The boss has a job for us."

"Thank you Master Zar." Said both pokemon as enthusiastically as they could. Raticate and Gastly had received a swift beating as soon as they all got out, if it wasn't for the boss's mission, it would have been a whole lot worse.

The Charmander, Zar, paced back and forth

"He wants us to split up, we're going to be looking for that pokemon. Remember, the boss described it as 'yellow, red cheeks, lightning shaped tail' and that it had to be brought back alive."

Raticate was the first to speak up. "What kind of pokemon is that? That can't be right!"

Zar responded with a smack across Raticate's face. "You're questioning the boss Rat?!"

Raticate cowered before Charmander. "No master Zar. I'm sorry."

Gastly then decided to speak. "You were saying? What is it the boss needs us to do?" Zar gave one last threatening glance to Raticate, then continued to speak.

"As I was saying, a pokemon of the description 'yellow, red cheeks, lightning shaped tail' needs to be brought to the boss alive. He specifically wants us to split up and check the nearby towns for it. According to him it should be weak, probably unconscious, so someone must have helped him." He held up a leaf, it belonged to the Chikorita. "This was found I the basement, so we're looking for a pokemon capable of using razor leaf."

Gastly interrupted again. "You don't think it was one of those do gooder Brotherhood members do you?"

Zar hadn't thought of it, but he wouldn't let his inferiors know that. "Eh, yeah, that could be a possibility. In fact, I will go myself to the city where their head quarters are and investigate."

He pointed at Raticate. "You, you're going to Restown. It's the nearest city, located to the east."

Raticate nodded. "Yes master Zar." He then left for his destination. Zar yelled out to him "Wrong way you moron!" Raticate turned around and went in the other direction. "Sorry Master Zar!"

He pointed at Gastly. "You, you're going to Pipton, its over the mountains to the north, you gotta go through Glacier Tunnel to get there. it's a relatively weak mystery dungeon so you should be fine on you're own." Gastly didn't say anything, he just floated off to his destination.

"I for one am going to Havok City. If it is the Brotherhood IS involved, I'll stop them, and kill the ones impeding us."

---

Location: Middle of the Wasteland

Chikorita was in trouble, her food was all gone, as was her water. If she didn't find the town soon… _I don't even wanna think about what'll happen…_

She heard more music, it was that same tune she heard awhile ago. It was louder this time. Ok, _definitely not my imagination this time._ She thought.

With the pokemon still on her back, Chikorita went towards the sound. She didn't notice it right away, but there was a pokemon walking across the dessert. It was a Squirtle, a green shelled Squirtle to be specific.

"Hellooooooo!" She yelled to it, but the Squirtle didn't stop, she noticed it was walking with some kind of flute instrument, playing a song as it trekked through the sand. She called to it again, "Wait up please! Heeeeey!"

Finally it stopped walking. She walked up to him. "Can you please help me? I'm lost and need to get this guy to a hospital!" The Squirtle didn't say anything. He didn't even look at her. "Hello? Anybody home?" She waved her leaf in front of his face. Finally he turned. _What a weirdo, I hope he isn't a psycho or something._

"You're closer to your destination then you think. Beyond the hill there is the city you seek." Even while he talked he didn't face her, he barely even had his flute thingy out of his mouth. "Just curious, do you know the pokemon on your back?"

She shook her head. "No, I found him awhile ago in a mystery dungeon, he hasn't woken up since then and I'm worried about him."

He placed his arm on her back as a comforting gesture, "Do not worry, he will be fine. Just hurry." He then began to walk off, going the same way he had been going before, once again playing his flute.

Chikorita looked to the direction he had told her to go, and she barely could she what looked like the top of a building, coming up from behind a huge brown rock. It was about a half hours walk away.

When she turned to thank the Squirtle, it was gone. "Hey, where'd you go?" She looked around, but still didn't spot the turtle pokemon, she couldn't even hear its flute anymore. The Squirtle had left. _Oh well, guess he was in a rush ._

For the first time since Tiny Ruins, the pokemon on her back made a noise, something between a cough and a moan. Whatever was wrong with the pokemon, it didn't sound healthy. _Better hurry. _She thought.

She ran as fast as she could without dropping her passenger towards the town, hoping to get there in half the time.

---

Raticate hated his job, walking around the wasteland so much made his feet sting like mad. And Zar was just brutal. _If I didn't need the money, I'd drop this job in a heart beat_.

That wasn't 100% true though, Raticate was sure if he quit. Zar would beat him to and inch of his life, and even if he didn't, Raticate would still have to deal with the boss. Just more reasons to hate this job.

_Where am I anyways?_

Little did he know he was, once again, going the wrong way.


	2. The Brotherhood

Revised: December 11th 2008

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Chapter 2: The Brotherhood

Location: Restown

Chikorita finally arrived at the town, if you could call it a town. In total there was five buildings, all made of dry, gray wood and very rusty metal. She looked around for the hospital that was supposed to be here, which luckily she found right away. Wasting no more time she ran over to get help for the pokemon.

The hospital was built out of wood mostly, all except the big rusty metal roof on top. The whole thing, like most of the buildings, blended into the rocky surroundings.

Inside was a single pokemon, one you would expect to find in such a place, a Chansey. It didn't notice Chikorita right away, so Chikorita had to yell out to her.

"Hey! I have a hurt pokemon here, he needs help!" Immediately the Chansey turned around and noticed the little green pokemon and her passenger. "Oh dear! Bring him over here, to the bed!" Chikorita obeyed, she went to the bed Chansey pointed to and gently placed him on his back on the covers of the bed.

"What's wrong with him?" Chikorita found herself filled with worry all of the sudden.

_Why am I so worried about him anyways? I don't know him._

The Chansey checked for a pulse, felt his forehead, listened to his breath. "I can't tell. He doesn't seem to be injured, and I don't see any symptoms to any illness's, where did you find him?"

"It was a Mystery Dungeon, Tiny Ruins, he was in the basement of the place." Chansey was confused. "The lack of any marks and bruises tells me he wasn't attacked. So he hasn't fainted. The only thing we can do is wait and hope he wakes up."

Chikorita didn't like that answer, but she accepted it, as she to had no ideas to why the pokemon would be knock out like this either. Chansey went over and grabbed a large blanket from a cabinet, and placed the blanket over the pokemon, tucking him in. "This could take a while, I'll be sure to look after him. Will you be staying?"

Chikorita shock her head. "I have some stuff I need to do here first." She began to leave but Chansey stopped her. "Wait! What kind of pokemon is this guy anyways?" Chikorita shrugged. "I have no idea."

---

Location: Havok City

"Ok, so what you're telling me, is once again, you're lost." Zar tried to calm himself down enough that he could say this clearly, he was so angry he felt like he was going to explode.

"Ahhh, kinda?" Raticate had a sound of terror on its voice. _For good reason_. Thought Zar.

"If you don't find the town within' an hour, I'm going to…" Zar began to laugh. The things he imagined him doing brought a smile to his face. "Lets just say you definitely wont like it."

With a combination of sadness and fear in his voice, Raticate simply said. "Yes master Zar." And hung up.

Zar had no luck finding out anything in Havok City, from what he investigated, no pokemon by his description came through the town gate. The Brotherhood wasn't involved after all then.

Suddenly the radio came to life again. Zar was getting a call from someone.

"Zar, how is progress with finding the target?" It was the Boss.

"I'm in Havok City, and nobody has seen your pokemon. Gastly called me a while back and said the same thing. And…" He wondered if he should mention Raticate. "Raticate is also not having any luck."_ I guess that's technically true._

"Zar, you remember why you took this job? I can tell you right now. If you fail to get that pokemon to me. I'll crush your precious stone."

Zar sighed. "Yes boss, I'll tell the others to keep a lookout." Not saying any more, the Boss hung up.

_I'm going to kill Raticate if we fail because of him._

---

Location: Restown

Chikorita had stuff to do here before she left. Obviously, supplies were a must, luckily she had at taken some cash with her from Tiny Ruins, but only 500 poke, so she would need to spend wisely, no Gummies for her this trip._ I'd kill for a green gummi right now. _She thought to herself.

The stores inventory was pretty cheap, so she bought a few apples, and spent the rest on some oran berries. She paid the store clerk all the poke she had and left.

She had another stop to make, she had heard a while ago that there was some famous explorer in town. Chikorita had hoped that someone like him could help her with telling her which kind pokemon she had saved.

She walked over to his house, of all the buildings, this one was the worst looking of the bunch. The roof looked like it was ready to cave in at any moment.

Chikorita knocked on the door. "Who's there?" A rough sounding voice said from behind the door. "I just need to ask you a few questions!" Chikorita hoped this guy wasn't a total nut. "No, go away. No visitors! I'm retired! Leave now!" _This guy IS nuts, wonderful_! "Listen, one question and I'll go away! Please!"

A moment passed, nothing was said by either pokemon. Then suddenly, the door opened, the pokemon inside turned out to be an Ivysaur. Not a normal Ivysaur, its face and body was covered in scars, its plant thing on its back covered with holes, he must have seen his good share of action and adventure. This guy definitely was the guy she was looking for.

"One question, hurry up."

"Well, I found a pokemon, but I don't know what kind it is. I was wondering…" The Ivysaur interrupted. "If I knew? Maybe, maybe not. So, go on, tell me about it. And hurry up."

"Ok, its yellow, about the same size as me, has red cheeks and a lightning shaped tail." The Ivysaur thought for a moment. "Hmm, nope, no idea, get out now. Hurry up." The Ivysaur tried to nudge her out the door. "Wait! I need to know! Don't you know anyone who might be able to help?"

The Ivysaur stopped pushing. "You said one question, that's two, two questions. Fine, I'll help. But then you leave me be." Ivysaur went over to a pile of books. Chikorita followed. "What is your name little seedling. You have name right? Tell me."

"My name, my name is Rita. Or at least, that's what I have everyone calls me. What's yours?" Ivysaur growled. "Gaah, that's three questions. Three! My name is Ivan. Ivan the Ivysaur. Rita the Chikorita. You and me are much alike it seems. Yes. Now your pokemon problem…" He went over to a small table covered in random assortment of things, picked out a book that was laying there, and began to flip through the pages. "You must go to the Brotherhood. I know them, in fact I am one, or was one, before. Retired."

"Who are the 'Brotherhood'? Never heard of them." Ivan closed the book and got another. "Four questions now. You have not heard of Brotherhood? Very odd thing. Big group of pokemon. Very famous." He began flipping through the second book. "Well, I don't hang around cities and towns that often."

"The Brotherhood is the last organization in the world who's goal is to help the pokemon of the world, or at least last well known one, and then again. There could be one far from here someplace... Not the point. Anyways, they do jobs for pokemon in need of aid. They also collect data and information from all over, to help in there missions. If anybody knows your pokemon, its them. Now please be quite I am trying to read! Go sit, over there." He pointed to an old, broken sofa.

Rita did as he asked, sat down, and waited. Ivysaur threw the second book away and picked up a third, again immediately starting to flip through pages. "Aha! Found it." Rita perked up. "Yeah? What?"

Ivan cleared his throat, "In this book it tells me what you need to get inside the Brotherhoods front gates, not every pokemon is allowed inside to read from our documents. You must have the trust of another Brotherhood member to enter. Lucky for you I am one, now the thing you need…" He closed the book and went to a desk in the back of his house. "Where is it, can't find anything in this house. Need to clean this mess up before, OW! Stupid paper cut, man that hurts. Can't find the blasted, ah! Here it is." He pulled out an object from the drawers of the desk It was a small gold medal. "Take this. It is proof that you know me, tell them I trust you and they will let you in." He gave Rita the medal. "It looks valuable, are you sure you wanna give it to me?"

Ivan laughed. "That's five questions. And yes, I am sure. I have no need for it, I have retired, and I trust you're not some secret agent trying to destroy the Brotherhood, or at least I hope not, you aren't right?" Rita shock her head. "Good! Then no need to worry, now please go, you've extended your visit long enough."

"Right, thanks for everything Ivan. Have a good retirement I guess." Ivan pushed her out the door. "Yes, yes, you too, except the retirement thing, good bye little seedling!" He then shut the door.

---

Location: The Hospital

Chansey did her best to keep the pokemon in the bed comfortable. Fresh pillow and blanket, a damp cloth on its forehead to keep it cool. Everything was done. Chansey was rather disappointed, she hadn't had anything to do it ages. The town was remote, the other people living here never left, and the wild pokemon left the town alone as it blending right into the ground. Life was rather dull.

Just then she heard a noise, it was the pokemon. Was it waking up? She thought. Indeed it was. It opened its eye, looked around and said. "Where am I?"

---

Location: Restown

Rita hurried to the hospital, she needed to make sure the pokemon was ok, she thought to herself as she rushed there, Last thing I need is you dying when I've gone through so much to help you.

When she got there, the place was empty. No pokemon, no Chansey.

Before long though, Chansey came in behind her. "Oh, there you are dear." She said calmly. "Your friend is out back if you're looking for him. I wouldn't bother him to much though, he seems rather... Dazed." Rita thanked her and immediately went out back.

She didn't see him right away, but there he was, alive and awake.

"Hello." She said to him, but he didn't look at her, he was just sitting there, on a rock, staring out in the distance.

"Where am I?"

Rita went over to him. "You're in a small town, I found you, you were knocked out."

He finally looked in her direction, but not actually at her, as if looking for someone in the distance. "Where are you? What's going on?"

Rita tilted her head. "I'm right here, in front of..."

"Oh my... you, you talk?!"

"...Yeah?"

The pokemon grabbed his head with both his hands as if he was trying to keep it from falling off. "That's not possible, pokemon don't talk. That's crazy!"

_Look who's talking, literally._ "You know you're talking too right? And you're a pokemon."

He look at himself, saw his paws, saw his tail, saw his yellow body. "But I'm not a pokemon! I'm, well, I was, a human! I don't know." He grabbed Rita. "You know what's going on right? Right?!"

Rita shrugged him off her, "Listen, just sit down and we'll talk about this. I'm as confused as you are... well maybe not, but I'm pretty confused!" He calmed down a little. "Ok, you're right, I need to think right now."

They both sat down on a couple of smooth rocks. "You... you're sure that you're actually a human? Cause I'm pretty sure there aren't any around any more."

The pokemon was confused. "What do you mean 'not around anymore'?"

"Well, from what I remember hearing, some disaster long ago killed them all, along with many species of pokemon... Maybe that's why I don't know what kind of pokemon you are."

"Ok, but I'm sure that before I woke up, I was a human being. Or I'm pretty sure..."

Rita didn't understand. "What do you mean 'pretty sure'?"

The pokemon shock his head. "I don't know, I can't remember anything else. The only thing I do remember is that. But now I'm not completely sure. For one as you can see I am a pokemon right now, and two, if the rest of my memory is gone, why trust the only memory I have left?"

"So you don't remember anything? Your home? Your name?"

He shock his head again. "Nothing."

Rita could barely believe it. "Its like you we're just hatched from your egg or something." Rita sighed._ Looks like I'm not done helping you yet._

---

Raticate had finally arrived to Restown, he was lucky to find the place. Raticate got the brilliant idea of secretly calling Gastly and having him tell him where to go. _He won't let me forget about it anytime soon I'm sure, but its worth it if it gets me out of one of Zar's punishments._

He got out his radio, "I've made it to restown, I'm starting my search immediately."

Zar sounded somewhat happy, at least happy for Zar. "Good! Now quickly find that pokemon. Gastly just called me and told me Pipton was empty, and from what I've investigated, nobody has brought the pokemon here. Consider your payment doubled if you find it and capture it."

Raticate was in disbelief. "Thank you master Zar! I won't disappoint you!"

Zar said one last thing. "Remember, if anyone gets in your way, do anything possible to stop them." The radio became static, Zar was gone.

"I won't fail, I can't fail. Strange yellow pokemon, here I come."

---

"Do you at least know what pokemon you are?" Another shake of the head. "No, but I know what pokemon you are, a Chikorita. Huh, so I guess I still know some things, but that just makes this a whole lot stranger..."

Rita didn't get it. "How exactly?"

"Well, why have I lost all memory of who I am, or was, but still remember me being a human, as well as a some basic stuff like the names of pokemon?"

Rita shrugged, "I'm no health expert. I guess that's more reason to help you. Listen, I was going to go to this one place in Havok city, where these guys called the Brotherhood have a bunch of information on stuff. I'm thinking they might know why your memory is messed up like it is, as well what pokemon you are, because it doesn't look like anyone round these parts knows what you are."

The pokemon smiled. "Thank you, I'm glad the first pokemon I've met was someone so helpful, like you." Rita was a little embarrassed, she'd never helped anyone but herself before. She kinda liked the feeling, the feeling that she was helping others.

"Don't worry about it. We should probably go now, nothing left here for us." Rita paused for a second. "By the way, what should I call you? Can't just keep calling you 'you' or whatever."

The pokemon thought for a moment, but shook his head. "I wish I had some idea, but I got nothing, why don't you think of something?"

Rita took a moment to think, _What would be a good name? _"I'm going to call you, Lloyd, yeah that's a good name I guess. You kinda look like a Lloyd."

Newly named Lloyd smiled at her. "That's good enough. Lets go."

They were about to leave when Chansey rounded the corner of the hospital and came to them. "Um, there is someone out front looking for your friend. I told him to wait while I got you."

"Who would be looking for you? ...Oh yeah, nevermind." Rita remembered Lloyds memory loss . "Don't worry about it, lets go find out together."


	3. Storm Canyon

Revised: May 11th, 2009

Chapter 3: Storm Canyon

Rita and Lloyd rounded the corner the hospital, both wondering who would be waiting for Lloyd. There awaiting for them was a Raticate.

"Ha! There you are! You're coming with me!" The Raticate was obviously not friendly.

"What do you want?"

Raticate laughed. "I'm here for your friend. My boss is looking for him!"

Rita turned to Lloyd, "I'm guessing you don't know how to fight." He shook his head.

Rita checked out Raticate. "Perhaps you should sit this one out, I'll show you how its done." Right then, Raticate launched itself at Lloyd, mouth open ready for a bite attack, but Rita knocked him away with a tackle.

"Grr, don't get in my way!" Raticate started charging for Rita. Rita was still a bit dazed from the impact of her tackle attack, she wasn't ready. Raticate didn't use his fangs as she had thought, instead it batted her across the face with its whip like tail. Rita was worried she wasn't strong enough to beat the Raticate.

"You're done for now girl!" Raticate opened its mouth to deliver a devastating bite attack. But suddenly Raticate stopped, it looked like someone was using an electric attack on the Raticate.

_An electric attack? Could it be...?_ The person she thought of was indeed the person using the attack. It was Lloyd.

Raticate was weak, so Rita attacked with her Razor Leaf, hitting Raticate in the forehead.

"No... I can't lose!" But he did, after all the abuse, Raticate finally lost consciousness and fell over in a big furry heap.

"We did it!" Rita was so excited, nothing was better then a good battle. "I thought you didn't know how to battle?"

Lloyd didn't look like her knew either. "I'm not sure what happened, I just saw that you were in danger and it just came out like that."

Rita gave him a quick kiss to the cheek, "My hero!" Rita looked to the far end of town. "Lets get out of here incase more come." Lloyd nodded, and they both left together, leaving the Raticate behind.

---

Raticate had no idea how long he was passed out, it was still daylight outside, but was it the same day?

He wasted no time and got out his radio.

"Zar, I... failed." _This is gonna get a whole lot worse. Why me?_

"I figured you'd screw up again. You're in big trouble. Now tell me, where are they? Gastly is close enough he might just catch them."

Raticate tried to stand, but he was still too hurt from the battle. "They left town, I don't know how long ago though, they knocked me out cold."

"As soon as you're able to leave, I want you to follow them. We can't lose them now or we might not find them again, this clear?"

"Yes master Zar."

---

Location: The Wasteland (on route to Havok City)

Rita still was feeling good from the battle. "I can't believe you're so strong! You took that raticate out with almost one shot!"

"Well you finished him off, plus if he hadn't have been interrupted by your tackle, he could of beat me right then at the beginning. You're the one who's so tough!" Rita laughed.

"I guess you and me make a good team huh?"

Lloyd nodded in agreement. "Yeah. So... not to change the subject, but how long till we get to the city?"

"Gimme a sec I'll check." She pulled out a map fro her bag and looked at it. "It says here we gotta go through a mystery dungeon about half a day from here, once we come out the back of that, Havok City is only an hour or two away. If things go well in the mystery dungeon, it should take exactly a day."

"What's a mystery dungeon?" Rita again forgot about his memory problem.

"Places where wild pokemon live, which are typically enormous mazes. You go in, and its usually impossible to get out unless you get to the end or use certain items. Most of the time the goal of going in is to find treasure, or find a lost pokemon. But in our case, the mystery dungeon is like a big, complicated tunnel that we need to get through, it's the fasted way to Havok City. We could go around, but that would take days and I don't have enough supplies for the trip."

"So basically it's a lair for wild pokemon right? Are they tough?"

"According to my map, no. Its full of weak water and flying types. Flying I would usually be worried about, because I'm a grass type, but thanks to you and your electric attacks, there's no problem. And you and I both can take care of the water types easily enough."

"What if another pokemon comes looking for me though? I doubt that Raticate was the last pokemon hunting me."

"Don't worry, Raticate was no problem for us once we teamed up. I bet if we stick together, we can take on anything!"

Lloyd smiled. "Right... Ok! I think we can do this."

"That's good, because there it is. Storm Canyon is what its called. Here we go!" Rita ran in.

"Hey wait up!"

Rita ran towards the entrance of Storm Canyon, Lloyd running behind to catch up. They were about to go in their first of many mystery dungeons together.

---

Watching Rita and Lloyd from a short distance away was Gastly, who was hiding behind a rock to avoid detection.

"Master Zar, I have tracked them successfully and they just went into Storm Canyon. I'm going to go above the place and meet them on the other side."

"Good, great to have someone who's at least somewhat useful. Raticate is on his way to Havok City, taking the long route around. If you fail as well, our only choice is to take the both of them on as a group. But if you can take them out by yourself, its double pay, as usual."

"I shall try master Zar. On my way now."

---

Location: Storm Canyon, 1st floor.

"Wow its cold in here." Rita was shivering.

"Haven't you been here before?"

"No, I usually take the long route, I try to avoid mystery dungeons unless there's potentially treasure or food inside, or I have no other choice. This place is just cold air, damp, stone walls and wild pokemon."

As the two of them were talking, a pokemon came out of a hallway, a polliwag, it didn't seem to notice them right away.

"Oh great, already got wild pokemon harassing us. You ready Lloyd?"

"Yup, lets do it!"

The Polliwag didn't know what hit it, as soon as it turned around and noticed the two, both unleashed two separate attacks. Polliwag was simultaneously hit with both a razor leaf and thunder shock. It was out for sure.

"Good job Lloyd, lets keep going."

They traveled down the same hallway the polliwag came out of, down it was an empty room. They went straight through the room into another hall to the left. This time the room at the end contained two pokemon, another polliwag and a pidgey.

"You get the Pidgey before it notices us, I can't stand flying types."

Lloyd did so, he charged up and unleashed a thunder shock, directly hitting and fainting the Pidgey. The polliwag heard the thunder shock and noticed the two of them, it immediately fired off a water gun in Lloyd's direction.

"Careful!" Yelled Rita, but it was too late, the power of the water gun swept Lloyd off his feet and he fell a foot back. Rita retaliated with a razor leaf, polliwag was too distracted attacked Lloyd to dodge, so the razor leaf hit it in its side, fainting him as well.

"Watch yourself Lloyd. These guys are tiny, but their water gun attack can still hurt like crazy."

"Got it." Said Lloyd, getting up and brushing himself off. He noticed something. "Hey what's that?" Lloyd pointed at a shiny object located near where polliwag once stood.

"Ooooh, I think that's an orb! Good eye Lloyd!"

"What's an orb?"

"It's a small blue ball that contains a power similar to a pokemon's attacks. It's usually engraved on it what it does. They're pretty useful but you only can use them once, and they are expensive to buy."

Lloyd went over and picked it up, he read the engraving on the side. "Its hard to read, kinda faded."

Rita came over and looked at it, "Hmm, oh wow! That's an escape orb! Not rare, but really useful."

"What's it do?"

"It creates a portal that can be used to instantly escape any Mystery Dungeon, useful in any situation where its impossible to defeat or escape a certain pokemon, and want to avoid a beating. You'd better hold onto that."

"Ok."

"The stairs down are here too. According to the map this place is eight floors, so we only got seven more to go."

"So far so good. Lets go, this is fun!"

---

Location: Storm Canyon, 5th floor

They had no problems for much of the dungeon, no items were found, but they did find a bit of poke that they could spend later in Havok City.

"So how far are we down now Rita?"

"We're on the fifth floor by my count. We're lucky so far, nothing in this place has come even close to defeating us!"

"Don't speak to soon, I think I see some pokemon coming."

Lloyd was right, there were three, two Pidgey that they have seen all over the dungeon so far, and one they haven't seen yet, a mudkip.

"I got them Rita, don't worry!"

Lloyd targeted the Mudkip, powered up, and unleashed his thunder shock. But the Mudkip leapt out of the way, completely avoiding the attack.

Lloyd tried to power up another thunder shock, but it was too late. Mudkip shot a water gun, launching Lloyd across the room. Rita attacked it with razor leaf, Mudkip's double weakness to grass type attacks thanks to the water and ground combination caused the attack to be very effective, easily fainting it.

But the fight wasn't over, the Pidgey were given plenty of time to take flight. Both of them went after Rita, hovering just above, occasionally swooping in for a peak attack.

"Ahh! Lloyd help!"

Lloyd got up and charged another thunder shock, aiming for the two bird pokemon.

"No Lloyd! Not..."

But it was too late, Lloyd released the energy, it not only hit both Pidgeys, but also Rita.

"Ahhhh! Lloyd, watch your aim! Owwww!"

Lloyd stopped his attack, both Pidgeys were defeated. Rita was fine, but not happy.

Rita glared at Lloyd. "Next time, wait until I get away BEFORE you send any electric attacks in my direction."

Lloyd smiled. "Hehe, sorry."

---

Location: Storm Canyon, 7th floor

They now wander the seventh floor, unable to find the last set of stairs, they can't decide how to proceed.

"Should we split up?" Asked Lloyd.

"That's not a good idea. If either of us gets lost, it might be impossible to find each other again."

"So then... now what?"

"Lets just... I don't know... take a break I guess."

Rita opened the bag that she kept the apples she bought in, but when she looked inside, all but one of the apples was gone.

"Oh no! All my apples!" She looked closly at the bag and found a huge rip on the bottom. "A hole got torn in the bag..."

"There's none left?"

Rita pulled out the last remaining apple.

"Just one left that didn't fallout. I guess we gotta split it."

Lloyd shook his head. "Don't worry about it, they're your apples, and I'm not hungry."

"Wow Lloyd, thanks a lot!"

They both sat down in the room, one of the many rooms they have already explored trying to find the stairs. Rita bit into the apple.

"So I guess this means we cant carry any more items with us huh? What about the money?"

Rita swallowed. "I keep it in a separate pouch, its all there." She detached a small pouch from around her waist, and gave it to Lloyd. "Here, count it while we're stopped, I have no idea how much we've collected so far."

Lloyd emptied the pouch on the ground. About two dozen coins spilled out. "How much is each worth?" Rita pointed to a small coin with the letter 'P' engraved on one side. "These are worth 10 poke." Then she pointed to a larger, slightly different looking coin, also engraved with the letter 'P' on one side. "These are worth 100 poke." She took another bite out of the apple.

Lloyd counted each coin. _17... 18... 19 little ones._ _1... 2... 3 big ones._

"So how much we got?"

"If my math is correct... four hundred and ninety poke... I think."

Rita took one last bite of the Apple, chewed, swallowed, and threw the core away into a dusty corner of the room. "That should be enough for some more supplies and maybe another bag to replace this one. Hurry up and gather up the money, we should keep going."

Lloyd stood up and began picking up the coins, putting each one in the pouch again. He picked up the last coin, one of the big ones, but dropped it on the ground. It started to roll away.

"Oh no! Get it Lloyd!"

Lloyd chased after it, the coin rolled along towards the far wall and finally fell on a soft patch of dirt.

"Don't worry I got it."

"NO LLOYD! STOP!"

Lloyd stepped forward. Rita got up and made a mad dash towards him. The Lloyd realized the problem. The ground was soft because it wasn't solid ground at all, it was a trap of some kind.

The ground beneath Lloyd disappeared, nothing but a deep pit was below him. Rita tried to grab him before he fell, but it was too late, Lloyd fell down the hole, the darkness below keeping him out of sight.

"Lloyd!"

Thump! Rita heard him land. She was happy to hear the sound so soon, it meant the pit wasn't that deep.

"Are you ok?!"

A moment of silence, then a small moan.

"Uhhhh, I guess so... just fell a little awkwardly. Hey, I think I'm on the last floor! Jump down, you should be fine if you land properly!"

"Ok, coming on down!"

Rita took two steps back, then ran forward and jumped into the hole. A short drop, and she was at the bottom next to Lloyd.

"Pretty lucky huh Rita?"

"Yeah, but next time, lets be a little more careful. I forgot to tell you about traps. Some of the smarter wild pokemon set traps for any intruders, they are usually easy to spot so just don't run off anymore and we'll be fine."

"Ok, lets go, we're almost out."

"Right."

---

"Gastly, have you reached the other end yet?"

"Yes master Zar, I'm waiting to ambush the target right now."

"Good, don't fail me now."

"I wont master Zar, see you with that pokemon soon."

---

Location: Storm Canyon, Basement

Lloyd and Rita finally reached the last floor, the exit already in sight, only a short distance away.

"Whew, finally." Rita was glad to be nearly out, she wasn't used to the moist, cold air that was in this place. "Lets get out of here."

"Hold it right there!" Said an unknown voice.

Rita and Lloyd both called out. "Who's there?" But moments passed, and they got no answer.

"Be careful Lloyd, this guy isn't a wild pokemon, he could be dangerous."

"Why don't we just make a run for it?"

"Without knowing where this guy is? No, lets just wait until he comes out."

The room became silent. Nothing could be heard except the faint breathing of Lloyd and Rita.

Suddenly, a beam of orange light came at Rita, she tried to dodge it but it came to fast.

Rita got up, "That was strange, that didn't hurt at… AHHH!"

Suddenly, beside her was something she hated more then anything, A giant pokemon called Ariados, arched slightly as if preparing to attack. Rita couldn't move from the fear, she hated spider pokemon, she HATED them.

"Ahhhh! Get away! GET AWAY!" Rita violently threw razor leaf after razor leaf in its direction, not aiming at all, she was panicking too much to be able to aim properly. "SOMEBODY HELP! HELP!!!"

The Ariados sounded like it was trying to say something, but it just came out as screeching and slobbering. _Yeah I know what you're trying to say, you wanna eat me!_

Rita was backed into a corner, she was exhausted and frightened. All she could do was stand against the wall, trembling in fear.

She looked up one last time, but she didn't see the spider. It was gone, instead Lloyd was there, standing over her.

"Rita, what's going on?"

"What? What's going on?"

"You got hit by some orange beam thing, and you started going crazy, every time I got close you freaked out!"

Rita realized what was going on. "I know what's attacking us, it must ghost type pokemon. It must have confused me with one of its attacks."

"Ghost pokemon?"

"They're really strange, really creepy, really scary pokemon. They don't usually attack out in the open, they prefer to be sneaky."

"So how do we beat it?"

"Well, like this... we run like crazy to the exit because we are completely doomed if we stay."

"… Great plan."

With no other choice, they ran as fast as they could to the exit, hoping they could get away in time.

"Hold it right there!"

The ghost pokemon finally revealed himself, he came out of the wall by the exit. It looked like a purple cloud with big white eyes.

Rita recognized it. She whispered in Lloyds ear so the ghost pokemon couldn't hear. "It's a Gastly. Hit it with your electric attack, normal attacks don't work like tackle and stuff. Hurry before it hides again!"

"Seeing you scared like that, it was so fun, so satisfying. You ready to feel it again? Confuse ray is such a fun little move…" Gastly wasted no time. He began to conjure another of his 'confuse rays', but forgot to hide again, it was completely exposed.

Rita and Pikachu attacked first, both using their signature attacks, both direct hits. The incomplete confuse ray backfired from the sudden attack, confusing Gastly instead of either Rita or Lloyd.

"Ehhhh, not good."

"Nighty night ghosty." Rita used razor leaf three times in a row, each struck the already weakened and very confused Gastly.

"Going down…" Gastly stopped floating and fell to the ground. He stayed there, laying on the ground, for a moment, then sank into the ground. It had escaped.

Rita and Lloyd stood there for a moment, absorbing everything that just happened, Lloyd finally broke the silence.

"So... you're afraid of spiders huh?"

"… Shut up."

Rita stomped ahead, Lloyd giggled quietly to himself then ran after her.

"Hey, come on, wait up!"

---

Gastly fled outside of Storm Canyon, still confused from his backfired attack. He pulled out his radio and tuned in Zar's frequency.

"Master Zar, I lost, they got me good."

"Grr! You idiot! You're just as useless as that Raticate! Get your butt over here NOW! They can not reach Havok City!"

"Master?"

"What?"

"I love you!"

Zar hung up immediately.

Gastly groaned, "Wait master it was... Gah! Stupid confuse ray…"

Gastly laid down to rest, he needed as much strength as he could if he was gonna beat those two, even with Zar's help.

---

Location: On route to Havok City

"Listen, if you want to talk about it I'm here, everybody is afraid of something!"

"I told you! Shut up about it!"

"Why? What's wrong?"

Rita turned around and kicked him in the shin. "I don't wanna talk about it!" She continued on, leaving Lloyd hoping up and down holding his leg.

"Come on, don't leave me here!"

Rita turned around. "I won't if you shut up about that!"

"Fine, fine…"

Lloyd ran after her.

---

Havok City was finally in sight. Only another 15 minutes and they could finally rest somewhere, buy some food and go look for the Brotherhood.

"Hold it right there."

"You gotta be kidding me!" Rita and Lloyd yelled at the same time, they knew what was coming,

From around a rock he was hiding behind came yet another pokemon hunting Lloyd, a Charmander this time.

"Look what we got here, two little weaklings on there first real adventure."

"Who are you freaks? Why are you chasing after Lloyd?"

"Lloyd? Oh, you must mean little the little yellow rat! We want him because our boss wants him, he hired us to capture him!"

"Us? Who's us?"

Revealing themselves, the Raticate and Gastly who attacked them before came out of hiding as well, one on each side of Rita and Lloyd, they were surrounded.

Rita was worried. _We can't take them all on at once!_

"I'm going to beat you extra hard for what you did in Restown!" Yelled the Raticate.

"Me too... making me confused by my own attack, you will pay for that."

"So," said Zar, "You gonna come quietly, or do with have to hurt you and your little girlfriend?"

_Eww, girlfriend? _"You'll have to beat us to get him, he's not going with you!"

"Ok then, get ready for some pain. Raticate, Gastly, get them!"

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"

A new voice called out from behind Zar, coming from the direction Havok City was in. It was a group of three pokemon coming out of Havok City.

"You three are coming with us, you're wanted by the Brotherhood for multiple crimes, so we're here to arrest you!"

Raticate was panicking. "Master, we gotta get out of here!"

Zar was angry with the sudden interruption, he knew the three of them had to run. "You got away this time, but remember, we will always know where you are, as soon as you let your guard down. You're coming with us eventually, and your little rescuer, she's DEAD!"

Zar, Raticate and Gastly all ran off. The Brotherhood members all ran after them except for one, a Marshtomp, who instead came up to Rita and Lloyd.

"Listen you two, you're gonna have to come with me for questioning."

"That's fine, me and Lloyd were going to the Brotherhood anyways."

Zar, Gastly and Raticate were now gone. Rita and Lloyd followed the pokemon that saved them into the city.

---

Location: Hidden in the Wasteland

"Master Zar, what are we going to do?"

Zar was out of breath from the running, he wasn't used to running so fast so far.

"I'm calling the Boss. Go keep watch you two."

Raticate and Gastly left, both finding locations nearby where they could safely scout around. Zar pulled out his radio.

"Boss, we had them, but the Brotherhood got in our way, and we got Brotherhood members chasing us down."

"It seems you're stuck then, I'm rather disappointed with your progress."

"Please Boss! Send me the stone! I need all the power I can get if I'm going to defeat them!"

"You think me for an IDIOT? No, I am not sending you the stone. But perhaps I can give you something else. Yes…"

"What Boss? What is it?"

"I have created an experimental stone recently. It does the same as a normal stone, but only works for a short while, that way you don't take it and run away on me. I'll have it sent via Spearow immediately."

"Thank you Boss. Thank you for putting so much trust in me, I'm…"

"This is your last chance, fail me again and you're finished. I hope you understand that."

Zar gulped. "Y-y-yes boss."


	4. A Guided Tour

Revised December 17th

-

Chapter 4: A Guided Tour

Location: Just outside Havok City

Rita and Lloyd were escorted to Havok City by the Marshtomp that was from the brotherhood, the two of them now safe from any more attacks. The city was enormous, none of the buildings were higher then two floors, except for the Brotherhood HQ. It was a huge, five to six story building. It looked like it could easily fit over a thousand Snorlaxs.

Marshtomp started to speak when they got through the city gates.

"Listen you two, you guys are safe as long as your in the city. But please don't go anywhere until we capture that fugitive. You have any idea why he'd be after you guys?"

"Nope, he lost his memory and I've only been with is for a day now."

"Lost his memory?" Marshtomp shook his head. "That ain't good, now is it? Don't worry buddy, I'll protect you."

"Thanks, my name's Lloyd by the way."

"And mine's Rita."

"It's a pleasure to meet you both, the names Ewan, leader of Team Torrent."

---

Location: The Wasteland

Zar waited in the wasteland, his package had not arrived yet. Gastly came back from his watch to check on him.

"Master Zar, has it arrived yet?"

Zar shook his head.

"Do not worry, it should not be long now." Said Gastly.

Just then, a screeching sound was heard above, it was the Spearow! Without landing it dropped the package beside Zar and flew off.

"Yes! YES! Go get Raticate and go spy on the Brotherhood headquarters, as soon as they leave we attack."

---

Location: The Brotherhood HQ

The HQ was even bigger up close. Rita also noticed for the first time the entire building was made of metal. It was rare to see such a huge metal building without any rust.

"Listen, normally we don't allow civilians within the main part of the HQ. But as your involved in an investigation involving several wanted criminals, we have no choice. Still, stay close to me, you don't wanna get lost, do ya?"

Both Rita and Lloyd replied with a shake of their heads.

"Umm, Rita and I were kinda of coming here anyways. We need to find out what pokemon I am."

"You mean you don't know? That's pretty unbelievable."

"It's true. I can't remember anything about anything at all. The only thing I remember is..." Then Lloyd thought for a moment. _Perhaps now isn't the right time to tell people I'm human._

Rita sensed why he had paused suddenly. "Ahh, the only thing he remembered was his name, Lloyd, that's it."

Lloyd said silently to her. "Thanks."

"Anyways Ewan." Rita said, trying to change the subject. "We found out from a retired member of the Brotherhood that you guys could tell us what Lloyd is."

Ewan nodded. "I think that shouldn't be a problem. Except... The database is typically reserved for members only. No civilian use."

Lloyd was shocked. "What!? So this trip was for nothing!?"

"Well, you could use it all you want if you became members of the Brotherhood and passed our entry exams. But it's a tough process, and I'm not sure the two of you could handle it!"

Rita looked offended by this. "What do you mean 'can't handle it'? We had to go through a mystery dungeon just to get here. Plus we were attacked by two of that Charmanders cronies, the Raticate and the Gastly, and did fine!"

"Listen, don't get mad at me, its just how it is! Your welcome to try if you want to, but I'm just saying, its tough!"

_What are you thinking Rita?_ Thought Lloyd. _Join the Brotherhood? I've barely done any fighting at all, I can't be ready for this!_

"We'll do it ok? Me and Lloyd will take on any thing you throw at us!"

Ewan laughed. "Well I guess it's decided then. But lets take care of everything else first, just come down to see one of my superiors, tell him what you know about the wanted pokemon, and you'll be free to do whatever." Ewan went up to the front gate and pressed a button.

Krrssh. "Hello, who's there?"

"Its me, Ewan of Team Torrent! Mind openin' the door?"

Krrssh. "Ok, opening the door now."

Suddenly, the building seemed to come to life, the massive metal door began to rumble. After a few seconds it started to slide over into the wall, slowly disappearing. The door opened enough that any pokemon could fit in, but didn't open all the way.

Krrssh. "Head on in please."

Marshtomp started making his way into the HQ, Rita following close behind with Lloyd in the back.

Behind a desk behind the door, there was a Lopunny, writing stuff down in a large book. She looked up and noticed Lloyd and Rita.

"Oh, new recruits?"

"Sort of, I'm taking them down to see the captain first, then they plan to take the exams to join."

"Oh, I see." She leaned over her desk to get a good look at Rita and Lloyd. "Ha, Good luck."

Rita could easily sense what she meant by that. She didn't like it. "Hey! We're tougher then we look!"

"Hmm, sure, whatever you say." Lopunny looked at Ewan. "You keep an eye them, I don't want to have to stop my work to look for children."

Rita looked like she was about to lose it. But luckily Lloyd and Ewan managed to push her out of the room.

They stopped in the next room.

"Grr! I hate her! Stupid little fuzzball thinks she's so tough!"

"Ah, she ain't bad when you get used to her. Don't worry to much about it!"

Lloyd whispered in her ear. "She's not worth it, we'll pass this exam thingy and prove what we've got, ok?"

Rita nodded. "Yeah... Thanks Lloyd."

---

They passed through room after room. Lloyd and Rita we're surprised how few pokemon they actually saw.

"Why's it so empty here?"

"Mostly everyone has gone down to the lower levels, that's where all the Brotherhoods private entertainment facilities are. Its pretty late in the day so pretty much everyone is relaxing after their missions. The ones up here are probably just gettin' back now."

"What's down there?" Asked Lloyd.

"All kinds of things, we got a cafeteria, a pool, a lounge, a library, we even got ourselves a casino."

Both Rita and Lloyd didn't know what that last one was, so Rita asked. "What's a casino?"

"It's a place where you gamble your poke, hoping to earn more in the process. You could luck out and win millions, or you could lose it all. I for one avoid it, I prefer to earn my poke, makes it..."

Rita wasn't listening, in fact she tuned out when he had said 'luck out and win millions'. Rita couldn't get the thought of suddenly becoming a millionaire out of her head.

"And that's why you always shouldn't accept gifts from strangers."

Rita suddenly came back to reality. "Umm, yeah. Great advice. Hey lets go sign up right now! Come on lets go!"

Lloyd held out his paws. "Wait, we still gotta go see this captain guy first and tell him about these guys who were after me."

"Oh... yeah." Rita said, trying to hide her disappointment

"Well, if your ready to go see him. Let get in there!" he pointed to a small room.

All three went in, but nothing was there.

"Umm, Ewan, are you sure this is the right place?" Lloyd had a hard time speaking, as Rita and Ewan had him pushed up against the wall.

"Yup, pretty sure, just wait one moment."

He pressed a button on the wall by the door, and soon after, the door closed. They were now tightly enclosed in the tiny room.

Lloyd squirmed out from behind Rita and Ewan. "Now what?"

"Just wait, takes a sec."

They waited another moment, and suddenly the entire room began to shake and rumble. Slowly the sound became a mechanical whirling sound. They could feel themselves being pulled upwards.

Rita sounded like she was on some kind of ride. "Wow! What's happening!?"

"This is an elevator, when you push the button a machine at the top of this shaft lowers or raises this little box were in and takes us to the floor that we select using these buttons."

Lloyd for one wasn't having a fun ride. His insides felt like they were melting inside him.

Thankfully for him (but not for Rita, who still was enjoying the elevator,) it stopped before Lloyd got really sick.

"Wow, that was so fun! I can't wait to ride it again!"

"Speak for yourself, that was just awful..."

The door opened to a very nice looking office. Before they stepped off the elevator Ewan stopped them.

"Let me do the talking for now, when I tell you to explain, explain. Sound like a plan?"

Both Rita and Lloyd nodded. "Got it." They said together.

They all got off, the door of the elevator closing behind them.

"Hello Ewan, here to see the boss again?" It was Lopunny.

"Hey!" said Rita before they could begin to talk together. "How'd you get up here so fast?!"

"Umm Rita, they're sisters." Explained Ewan.

"Yes, I am one of many siblings. There are twenty four of us in total, all work or are soon to work in the Brotherhood in someway."

Rita was amazed. "Wow, twenty four? That's awesome!"

"If I may ask, which one of my siblings did you meet?"

Ewan told her. "I'm pretty sure it was Eva, or might have been Stephanie... It doesn't matter right now, need to take these two to the captain."

Lopunny pressed a few buttons, a double door to the right of her desk opened up.

"You can go right in. Have a nice day…" She paused, hinting at wanting to get to know their names.

"Rita."

"Lloyd."

"… Rita and Lloyd, glad to meet the both of you, my name is Lina. I hope you have a good day!"

Rita smiled at her. "Thanks a lot!"

---

Location: The Wasteland

"Gastly, Raticate, come here."

Both came immediately from their posts.

Both said at once. "Yes Master Zar?"

"Your both fired. I don't need you anymore."

"What about our pay? You owe me and Gastly weeks worth of poke!"

"You expect me to pay you for your constant failure? No, you're lucky I don't unleash my new power on you, now leave, or I'LL KILL YOU!"

Both Raticate and Gastly left, knowing that both couldn't do anything about it. It was true that if Zar used the item the Boss sent now, he could easily destroy the both of them, even if they fought together.

Alone, Zar pulled out a small box, much like a box that would hold a ring. He opened it and gazed at in adoration.

"Finally mine. The rare Infinity Stone. Capable of evolving any pokemon that uses it. With this power, I'll take that 'Lloyd' guy on, bring him to the boss, and claim the entire reward for myself!"

Zar looked up to the sky and let out a triumphant laugh, occasional bursts of flame spewing from his mouth.

---

Rita, Lloyd and Ewan all entered the captains office quietly. The captain wasn't visible as he was sitting on a chair facing the other way. They could hear his voice from across the room, he seemed to be talking on a phone.

"Listen, tell Team Avalanche if they want to keep their rooms as cold as they do, that they need to keep the door closed! They go through at least 1500 poke a month from maintenance on their air conditioner alone! Yes, yes. Listen, if they don't like it, and can't remember to keep the door closed, tell them they can go without or pay for it themselves. Ok, all right then. Talk to you later, bye."

He hung up.

"Hey captain! Its me!"

"Ewan? Ewaaaan, my boy!"

The captain got out of his chair, he was a Wartortle, Rita saw that it had a green shell. _Just like that Squirtle I met. Are they brothers or something?_

"What can I do for you my friend?"

"Well. I brought these two…" pointed to Rita and Lloyd. "for two reasons. Firstly, they are targets of one of our most wanted pokemon, Zar the Charmander."

"Okay then, so do either of you know what he wants with you?"

Lloyd and Rita both went to speak, Rita told him to go ahead.

"Well sir. My name is Lloyd and her name is Rita. This guy Zar, he, as well as two others with him, a Gastly and Raticate, are only after me. Rita has nothing to do with it except that she rescued me from a Mystery Dungeon."

Wartortle laughed. "Aren't you a brave little Chikorita? It's great to see people willing to help others in this world. Please continue Lloyd."

"I have no idea why they are after me, when I woke up in the town Rita brought me to, I couldn't remember anything."

Wartortle laughed again. "What a great story! I can see you two going places in the future."

"That's the other thing I wanted to talk about captain." Said Ewan. "These two are interested in trying out for starting their own team. They wish to try the exam."

"Yes! Wonderful! I was right! I would be honored to have you part of the Brotherhood." But then the Captain frowned. "Eh, but I foresee a potential problem in this. All teams must start out with a minimum of three members."

Ewan looked like he got hit in the head with a rock suddenly. "Ahh, I totally forgot about that. Looks you guys are going to have to recruit another member."

Rita and Lloyd both frowned at this, they didn't know anyone who could join them.

"Don't worry, the rule is the number of members must be at least three on the first month anniversary of your teams creation. So as long as you can get someone by the end of the month. You're good!"

"And if Rita and I can't find anyone?"

The captain shock his head. "Well, even if you're friends with Ewan, rules are rules. We'll have to disband you from the Brotherhood. So are you still going through with this?"

Rita nodded. "Of course we are, we need the money, and we need to get information from your little database thing."

Wartortle laughed yet again. "Great, great, best of luck in your exam then, and best of luck finding another member. Ewan, if your not busy, I'd like you to show them the lower levels, and give them a room."

Marchtomp saluted. "Yes sir! Come with me you too."

"Oh no…"

"What is it Lloyd?" Rita asked.

"We're going on that elevator again aren't we?"

"I guess so. Its how we got up here."

Lloyd quietly sobbed to himself. "My poor stomach…"

---

Location: HQ, Basement level

Ewan went down the hall with Rita and Lloyd following them. The basement was much cooler then the other floors. Thankfully not as cool as Storm Canyon was though.

"First things first, the cafeteria. Here you can come to eat. Most food is free, but things like apples and gummies cost extra. You can also just hang out, if you don't mind all the noise."

Ewan continued down the hall. He stopped in front of the second door in the hallway.

"In here is the pool, favorite place obviously for the water types, but quite a few other types come down here to cool off. Except the ground and fire and similar types obviously."

He started to continue on, but turned to Lloyd. "I'm afraid electric types are banned from the pool area, if you were here when that Jolteon accidentally shocked everyone in the pool, you'd understand."

"That's fine, It's no big deal."

Ewan lead the way to the next door.

"In here, is the lounge and library, favorite place for the few psychic types we got here. Best place if you want a quiet place to relax.

Ewan continued to the last stop in the entertainment section of the basement.

"Here, is the casino. Many of our teams make enough poke to risk it in a little bit of chance. Try to avoid spending all your poke here, its not our fault if you can't afford supplies for your next mission. Now, if you'll follow me, we'll go back up to the first floor and I'll show you your room."

"Nooooo, not the elevator again! Augh…"

---

Location: HQ, first floor

"158... 159... Here we are! 160. This will be your rooms."

Ewan opened the door. Inside was a fairly nice room. It had four beds, a cabinet for storing anything, as well as a radio, a lamp shaped like a Magikarp, and a large mirror.

"This is the room that everyone has that have less then four members, when you get more, you will be moved to a bigger room. There also other rooms, but they are for the top ten teams. They are very luxurious rooms, I should know, my team is one of the lucky ones that has one!"

Rita had an excited look on her face. "Wow, this is great! I haven't had my own room in years!"

"Well, you two better go to sleep, you got a big day tomorrow, what with the exam and all."

Rita ran in the room to pick a bed, Lloyd stayed behind and asked Ewan a question.

"What is the exam anyways?"

"Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to say, part of the challenge. Don't worry about it though, get yourself a good nights sleep. See you two later!"

Lloyd and Rita waved (Rita waved with leaf on her head), and said good bye.

Rita got into the bed she picked out. "I'm going to sleep right now, I haven't slept in forever!"

"Yeah, me too, big day tomorrow I guess. Listen, Rita..."

"Yeah Lloyd?"

"Thanks for everything."

"Heh, no biggy. Go to sleep."

Lloyd did as he was told and got into bed, it wasn't long before both were quietly sleeping.


	5. That's Not Water

Chapter 9: That's Not Water...

Lloyd found himself alone in the front halls of the Brotherhood HQ, not a soul, even Lopunny, was around.

"Hello?"

Behind him, he heard a noise, approaching footsteps. It was Zar, but he had evolved into a Charizard.

Zar said nothing, he instead let out a mighty roar, and ran full speed at Lloyd. He had no choice but to run away.

Zar caught up with Lloyd, his gaping mouth inches from devouring him. Lloyd managed to escape though a narrow doorway that Zar couldn't fit through.

Lloyd didn't notice that he had ran into the elevator, the doors closed before he could get out. One of the buttons started to glow, saying "B100" Meaning the 100th basement. That had to be thousands of feet.

A snap was heard from above, and the elevator began to plummet down the shaft.

The elevator sped up faster and faster until... Rita suddenly appeared.

"Lloyd get up! Its already noon!"

---

Lloyd couldn't control himself, he released a an electric shock that spread through the entire room. Rita was standing beside his bed at the time.

"... Oh hey Rita, scared me." Lloyd yawned.

"Yeah, I figured. You need to learn to wake up earlier. Now get out of bed the exams in an hour. Ewan just came by and told us to get ready."

Lloyd crawled out of bed and slumped to the floor, his entire body felt like mush. He put his paws to the ground and stretched, making his back crack loudly.

"Oh yeah!"

Lloyd stood up, on a table was what looked like breakfast.

"I brought you some breakfast, I didn't know what you'd want so I just brought some milk and a bowl of oatmeal."

Lloyd went over to the table and brought the food over to his bed and sat there. He began eating the oatmeal, it was pretty good, but it could have used some sugar or honey. He finished it off by drinking the milk, the milk was kind of warm, but it was still refreshing.

"So you ready? They're waiting for us now."

"Yeah let go."

Rita and Lloyd went out into the hallway, it was much more busy then it was yesterday. Dozens of pokemon going in both directions, getting to where they needed to go. Rita and Lloyd had to hurry to avoid getting trampled.

"So where are we going?"

"Not far, its on the same floor as we are. Ewan said to bring some supplies so I dipped into our cash and bought some things. Here, you hold the bag, be careful, I just bought that."

Lloyd unstrapped the bag from around Rita, he looked inside as they walked down the hall. Inside was a few Oran Berrys, a pink berry he didn't recognise, and the escape orb they found in Storm Canyon.

"Where's the rest of the cash?"

"I still have it, its in the pouch on my waist. Not much left in it though, only eighty poke. Don't worry though, Ewan said when we pass the exam we get some cash to start with."

Rita and Lloyd turned the corner into a less populated section of the hall. Rita opened the first door to the left and went in. Ewan, as well as two others were waiting for them.

"Hey Ewan!" Said Rita.

"Ah, Good morning, I see you managed to get Lloyd outta bed."

"Not without getting shocked I didn't."

Everyone but Rita laughed.

"Shut up guys, it hurt!"

"Well, I think we've waited long enough. Come here you two."

Rita and Lloyd came near where Ewan was standing. They noticed a manhole right below him.

"Ok you two, I bet you're wondering what your exam is. Well, the one thing every team in the brotherhood ends up doing, is going through Mystery Dungeon after Mystery Dungeon. So, what we'll be doing, is sending you down here as a test."

Rita looked disgusted. "Is that... a sewer?"

"It used to be, back when humans were still around, but now it's a habitat for a ton of wild pokemon. Since it was so close to our HQ, we decided to block off part of it from the rest of the city's and use it to test new recruits."

He turned to the pokemon behind him, a machop and mankey.

"Ok boys, open 'er up."

They did so right away. Both grabbed a handle and lifted up the metal disk and threw os aside. The stench that came out was overwhelming.

"Ah, what a nostalgic smell. It seems only yesterday I was a wee mudkip joining the Brotherhood. Ok you two, I'll put this nice and simple. The Havok Sewer is 10 floors deep, containing mostly normal, poison and water type pokemon. Your job is to get to the 8th floor minimum. On the 8th floor is a ladder back up, come out from there and you pass."

"Wait." Said Lloyd. "You said 10 floors, why do we only have to get to the 8th?"

"Well, on the tenth floor is a prize, its totally optional to get, and you're in no danger of failing the exam once you get to the ninth floor. But the pokemon down there are a lot more powerful, typically more powerful then your average recruit. This means in order to get the prize, you gotta use your wits, and a little luck."

Rita brightened up a little. "Wow, what's the prize? Money? Jewels? Priceless artifacts?"

Ewan shook his head. "No idea, nobody's made it to the end in years. Last one to get through was the Captain himself. About 40 years ago. He kept it a secret from everyone, even till today, just to tease us."

Rita turned to Lloyd. "We gotta get that prize!" Without waiting Rita jumped in through the hole, forgetting the awful stench.

"Rather eager girl she is, you take care of her Lloyd."

"I will Ewan." Lloyd jumped down after Rita. The exam had begun.

---

Location: Havok Sewer, Level 1

Lloyd landed safely on something soft. Rita was no where to be seen.

"Rita! Rita?!"

"Mmmph."

Lloyd heard her muffled voice beneath him, he hand landed on top of her.

"Mmmff Moff Me! (Get off me!)"

"Whoa, sorry!" Lloyd did so, Rita gasped for breath.

"Man, you're heavier then you look, you know that?"

"Yeah, yeah. Lets just go, who knows how long before a wild pokemon finds us."

---

Location: Just Outside Havok City

"Listen Boss, I looked everywhere, but the place you told me to go has no way into the sewer."

Zar stood by one of the blocked entrances to the sewer beneath the Brotherhood HQ.

"That's because its underwater. You have to swim."

"But Boss, if I go in there I'll die!"

"Use the stone I gave you, don't worry as, if they are in there, you will have enough time to get the pokemon and back out before you devolve."

"But even then, won't it..."

"Hurt? Oh yes, even evolved your going to feel an extreme amount of pain. So you'd best hurry. Its definitely too late for you to turn back now. Good luck now."

Zar wanted to say more, but the Boss already turned off his radio. Nothing but static. He put away the radio and replaced it with the box containing the Infinity Stone. He opened it and dropped the stone into his clawed hand.

He began to evolve. His entire body was glowing, his size grew and he could feel the power building in size inside him. When the glowing stopped, the once small, but still somehow intimidating Zar, stood a powerful Charmeleon.

Zar laughed upwards in triumph, and dove into the disgusting pool. Not caring about the pain or filth, he was full of the power he longed for years.

---

Location: Havok Sewer, Level 1

They had travelled several 'rooms' already and had yet to see a single wild pokemon. They did find some items though, another Escape Orb, and 20 poke. A lucky trip so far.

"This exams not so bad." Said Rita as they travelled the next hallway.

"Well, be careful, I trust Ewan when he says this won't be easy."

"Meh, you worry too much. Just enjoy the fact its so easy."

Then the first wild pokemon of the sewer rounded a corner, heading in their direction. It was just a Rattata.

"Well, here's the challenge you were asking for. You go ahead and get it."

Lloyd stepped forward and charged up a thunder shock. The Rattata tried to run away back around the corner, but it wasn't quick enough. Lloyd let loose his attack and it directly hit the rat pokemon as it was running. It let our a loud squeak and fell down.

"Good job Lloyd!"

But despite what they thought, the Rattata wasn't done yet. It got back up and began to make a screeching, squeaking noise. It was calling for help.

Rita quickly defeated the Rattata before it could make anymore noise with one of her leaf attacks. Like always it hit and Rattata fell over, down for good this time.

"You think any of his friend heard that?" Asked Lloyd. Rita shrugged.

Just then, not one but three Rattatas dashed to where the first one has been attacked. Lloyd and Rita were surrounded.

"Not good." Said Rita. "You go after the one behind us, I'll go for the one in front."

"Got it."

The Rattata all went for them at once, Rita ran for hers while Lloyd stood there and charged another thunder shock. When Rita reached her Rattata, she over powered it with a more powerful tackle. Not assuming this took it out, she launched a leaf attack in its direction, hitting it in mid-air, when it landed, it didn't get up. It was unconscious.

Lloyd unleashed his thunder shock on the incoming Rattata, hitting it mid stride. But the third Rattata, coming in from the side, tackled Lloyd without him noticing. Sending him toppling into the nearby wall. Lloyd got up and prepared for a continued attack. When the Rattata tried a jumping attack, Lloyd batted it out of the air with his tail, sending him flying towards his already fallen brethren, fainting just like they had.

Rita and Lloyd waited for more, but that seemed to be it.

Rita rejoined Lloyds side. "Good Job."

"You too, lets go."

They both walked into the next room, where waiting for them was the stairs down to the next level.

---

Location: Havok Sewer, Level 4

So far the sewers hadn't throw a problem at them they didn't easily solve. They had fought Rattatas, Zubats, even a Koffing. None of them lasted more then an attack or two, none of them left any lasting marks or bruises on either Lloyd or Rita.

The forth floor was the simplest of all. Other then a single Zubat they defeated before it even noticed them, there was not a single wild pokemon that got in their way and the place was almost fully explored.

"So Rita, are you happy you rescued me?"

"Huh? Why?"

"Well, so much has changed for us because of me. I'm just wondering is all this stuff, especially being chased by that Zar guy, ok with you?"

"Hmm, to tell you the truth, I'm actually happier then I was before."

"Really? How?"

"Well, firstly, before I rescued you, I've never had many friends, and none that I could hang out with all the time like you. Secondly, because of you I'm about to join the Brotherhood, that's going to be a whole lot better then scavenging what I can from Mystery Dungeons just to survive."

"Huh, so in a way, we've saved each other. Me from Zar, you from your unhappy life."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Why were you wandering around the Wasteland anyways? Don't you have a family?"

Rita frowned and looked down to the floor. "I did, but they... they're dead..."

"Oh... I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, its fine."

"Ok, lets just keep going."

---

Location: Havok Sewer, Level 6

They descended two more floors of the sewer. They were even less eventful then the first four. Rita had rushed ahead, impatient to get through the last few rooms.

"Rita slow down, if a pokemon attacks you that far ahead, I can't help you."

Rita yelled from the far end of the hall, standing next to one of the sewers water canals.

"I'm fine, maybe you should hurry up a lit... AHH!"

Rita lost her footing and slipped, Lloyd ran to help her. She was dangling over the edge of the pool.

"Lloyd help me! I don't want to go in there! The water is so gross!"

"I don't think that stuff can be considered 'water' anymore. Hold on, I'm coming."

Lloyd reached Rita just in time, she lost her grip and began to fall backwards. Lloyd stopped her fall by reaching out and grabbing her.

"Hold still I got you."

Lloyd heaved her away from the edge and plopped her on her side onto the floor.

"Whew, thanks, you know how much I would stink if I fell there?"

Lloyd was going to say something, but then something reached out of the pool and grabbed Rita by the foot and pulled her in. Lloyd tried to save her again but the thing pulled her too fast and she fell right in.

"Rita!"

A moment passed when Lloyd couldn't see her, but thankfully, she soon surfaced, coughing up the dirty sludge.

"Ewwww, this is the most disgusting thing ever!"

Rita began to swim to the edge of the pool so she could get out. But once again she was pulled under.

"Rita! What's wrong!?"

She surfaced again.

"Something is in here! Help me out!"

Rita swam as fast as she could to the edge, Lloyd reached out and grabbed onto her, and pulled her out again, his time bringing her father from the edge, all the way to the nearby wall.

"What was that?" Asked Lloyd.

"I'm not sure, but I bet its one of those disgusting Grimers. Lloyd, use your electric attack, maybe you can lure it out, or at least make it faint."

"Got it."

Lloyd charged up a thunder shock and fired it into the pool. The electricity spread everywhere once it hit. Once it was over, a pink hand emerged from the water. The Grimer that pulled in Rita.

Lloyd began to charge a second attack.

"Wait, let me finish this thing."

Lloyd stopped charging up, and stepped aside. Rita moved up.

"Thanks to you I smell worse then a wet Growlithe. YOU'RE GOING DOWN!"

Rita ran up to the Grimer, who was unable to move, the thunder shock had paralysed it. With her leaf on her head. She repeated hit the Grimer over and over, knocking it all over the place. When it tried to crawl away, she used multiple leaf attacks and knocked it over. She ran over to the Grimer and with all the strength she could muster, she batted the Grimer back into the sewers sludge pit back where it came.

"Wow, remind me never to get you mad."

She got really close to Lloyds face, the smell of the sewer powerfully emitting from her.

"Never get me mad."

Rita went off I the direction they were going, Lloyd followed behind. Soon after they found the stairs going down to the next floor.


	6. Power Overwhelming

Wow, chapter 10 already? How the time flies.

Thanks again to all my readers… except the hundreds of you who didn't write a review.

Nah, I'm kidding, but still, please review.

Chapter 10: Power Overwhelming

Location: Havok Sewer, Level 8

"Finally made it." Lloyd was exhausted, he had to sit for a minute. "Hand me an apple Rita."

"Umm, ok." She rummaged through the bag. "Sorry, I think were all out, got plenty of Oran Berries though." She gave him one. He began to eat right away.

"Hooray for us, we've passed the exam." Lloyd said between bites.

"Hey, we're not done yet, we still have two floors left!"

"You're not honestly thinking of going all the way are you? You heard Ewan, nobody has got all the way since the captain did it 40 years ago."

"So? That means if we do it, not only do we get the glory, but we get whatever the reward is at the end!"

Lloyd went over and took the bag again. He looked inside. "That's great and all, but we only have three oran berries left, and no apples. Plus nothing else except two escape orbs. Face it, its pointless."

"Nonsense, all we need to do is be careful."

"Smell yourself and tell ME to be careful again."

"Ugh, you're hopeless. I'm going, and you're coming too."

Lloyd rolled his eyes. "Wait up…"

---

Location: Havoc Sewer, Level 9

Rita and Lloyd were running as fast as they could down the halls of the 9th floor. In pursuit was six Golbats.

"I told you! I told you! This is all your fault!"

"No its not, its Ewans for being so vague about this place!"

"You'd better hope we get this reward or else!"

Rita and Lloyd rounded the corner and continued to run. Luckily the Golbats didn't notice and continued to go forward into a different hallway, chasing nothing.

They were both out of breath. "Well, we lost them." Remarked Rita.

"For now, but I'm sure if we don't find the stairs soon, those Golbat will find us again."

"Well, we saw most of the rooms while we ran, so it must be around…"

"Yeah, but lets be quite about it ok Rita? Hey Rita?"

Lloyd turned around to see what was holding up Rita, but she wasn't there. Lloyd looked up and saw where Rita had gone, she was being eaten by a giant purple pokemon, a Muk!

"Oh that's nasty. DON'T WORRY RITA I'LL GET YOU OUT!"

Muk towered over Lloyd, there was no way he could attack it physically, and an electric attack would also hurt Rita.

Muk slowly crawled over to Lloyd. Lloyd was running out of space and needed to think of something fast.

Then Lloyd saw something above Muk, pipes.

"Man I hope something painful is in those."

Lloyd stood his ground and powered up a thunder shock. Muk got closer and closer, its eyes focused on Lloyd. When Muk was right beneath the pipes. Lloyd let lose his attack right at the pipes, causing them to all burst.

Lloyd was lucky once again, the pipes were full of extremely hot steam. Muk got a direct blast in the face with steam.

It regurgitated Rita so that it could a quick escape, then fled into a pool of slime.

Rita smelled even worse then before.

"Hey there stinky, what's hanging?"

"Out of the way I'm gonna throw up…"

She ran past him around the corner. Lloyd laughed as she left.

"What the matter? Muk got your tongue? Or did you have his? Ahahaha!"

"Shut up and come here, the stairs are in this room."

"Ok Rita, and by the way, I told you…"

Rita slammed her leaf into Lloyds face as he passed the corner.

"Owww…"

---

Location: Havoc Sewer, Final Level

"See? No problem! We made it!"

"After being chased around for a half hour. And after you got EATEN. Did you forget about that?"

Obviously she had, because she wasn't listening to Lloyd and was walking towards the end of the sewer to claim the prize.

"Hey wait! What that's happened today makes you think it's a good idea to run up ahead?"

"You're worrying to much again."

The final floor contained no hallways, no other rooms, and no wild pokemon in sight. The only thing were a few more canals and pools of the usual disgusting sludge. And a pedestal at the far end of the room.

Rita homed in onto the pedestal, making the assumption that's where the reward was.

"Look, there is nothing left between us and the reward. Lets just get it and get out."

Lloyd couldn't really argue, the Mystery Dungeon was finished, they were an official Brotherhood team, and they were about to earn some highly sought after reward. What could go wrong?

SPLASH!

"Hold it right there."

The voice belonged to Zar.

"What are you doing here? How did you get in?" Said Rita.

When Zar landed on the ground, he caused dust to fly everywhere. Rita and Lloyd lost sight of each other.

"It should be obvious now why I'm here, and how… well it was a lot easier thanks to my new power."

When the dust settled. Lloyd and Rita saw Zar, but he was no longer a Charmander, he had evolved into a Chameleon.

"So, I'll ask this one more time, will you come quietly? Or will you both have to suffer?"

Lloyd stood his ground, unafraid of Zar despite his evolution. "We'll never surrender to you, you're a villain and a criminal and you must be stopped! Right Rita?"

Rita wasn't listening, in fact she wasn't paying attention at all, she was at the base of the pedestal trying to reach to the top of it, obviously for the prize.

"Rita!"

"Huh? What? Hey, when'd Zar get here? And hey, he's evolved!"

Both Zar and Lloyd had slapped their foreheads in disbelief.

"Enough of this foolishness, your coming with me!"

Zar inhaled a deep breath, Lloyd figured he was preparing one of his fire attacks. Lloyd stood there and waited for him to attack, Zar had used his flamethrower move directly at Lloyd, at the last moment Lloyd dodged the attack with a swift leap into the air.

Lloyd knew he wouldn't have time to charge a thunder shock, Zar was faster to the draw. If he was going to win, it would have to be with his physical attacks. Unfortunately, Lloyd had been relying on his thunder shock until now.

"Hey I got it!" yelled Rita. "No wait, I just knocked it over a little, don't worry it'll just take a sec…"

"Rita! Will you forget that thing and help?"

"But it might help us win against Zar!"

_Looks like I'm on my own._ If Lloyd was going to get close enough to Zar, he would have to wait for him to attack.

Just as the thought had crossed his mind. Zar breathed inwards for another fire attack. Lloyd waited once again for it to come, and when it did, he dodged it. This time, instead of just jumping sideways. He leaped over the blazing fire towards Zar.

Lloyd swung his tail around and smacked it across Zar's face, Zar didn't expect the blow and couldn't counter his acrobatic assault. Lloyd didn't give him time to recover, he leaped at Zar and tackled him in the stomach, his final attack was to leap onto his back, charge up, and shock him with a point blank thunder shock.

_There's no way he can stand after that._

But Lloyd was wrong, Zar not only was still standing, he looked as though Lloyd never attacked at all. With blinding speed Zar closed the distance between him and Lloyd and slashed rapidly with both claws. Lloyd couldn't do anything as claw after claw struck him.

Lloyd couldn't take it anymore, he fell backwards onto the cold ground. Zar stepped over and placed one of his feet on Lloyd to prevent him from escaping.

"Looks like your little journey is ending early."

Zar stood over Lloyd, and began to inhale, preparing for a final flamethrower. Lloyd closed his eyes and waited for the attack. It never came.

From the other side of the room, Rita interrupted Zar with her leaf attack. Either she got the item, couldn't reach it or finally came to her senses… _Definitely one of the first two._

"Lets get this guy Lloyd, once and for all!"

While Rita pelted Zar with leaf attacks, Lloyd used the time to stand up and get away. Now he had all the time in the world to use thunder shock.

"Rita, lets use both our attacks at once. Ready?"

"Yeah!"

"Then attack now!"

With perfect timing, Rita had used leaf attack at the same time that Lloyd charged up and used a thunder shock, both attacks hitting Zar.

"Keep it up Rita, I'm going for him!"

Rita understood, and attacked over and over with leaf attack. Zar stood his ground and took each one. Lloyd ran up to the distracted Zar and swiped his tail at his legs, tripping Zar. Before Zar could get up Lloyd jumped on top of him and charged a final thunder shock, looking directly into Zar's eyes as he had done so to Lloyd.

"Looks like your little hunt is ending early."

At that moment, Lloyd released more energy then ever before, all directed downwards into Zar. Unlike before, Zar couldn't endure.

"Impossible… I had so much power… how?"

Without another word, Zar fainted. Lloyd and Rita had won.

"Looks like that's the end of the that." Said Rita, she walked to where Zar and Lloyd were in the room.

"I doubt it, Zar said it was his boss that wanted me. That means this is only going to delay everything."

"Even still, you've proved you can handle yourself against such a tough opponent. This Boss guy is gotta be worried."

"Here's hoping. So did you get the reward from the pedestal?"

"Yeah, but I have no idea what it is. I figured we could ask the captain, he would probably know."

"Good idea." Lloyd looked around. Somewhere there was a ladder up, back to the surface.

When he spotted it, he looked up and up, the ladder disappeared into the darkness engulfing the room of the room.

"One last problem, how are we getting Zar upstairs?"

Lloyd pointed at the ladder so Rita could find it. When she saw it she looked at it with a gaping mouth.

"Uhh, well, I guess since I thought of visiting the captain, it's your turn to figure out the solution."

Lloyd laughed. "Well, you got me there. I guess the only thing we can do is carefully push him up as we climb."

"Yeah, that'll be your job." She wiggled one of her legs. "Hard to do with no fingers."

They both laughed. They dragged Zar over and began the long climb, Lloyd balancing Zar on his head with one hand and climbing with the other.

---

Location: HQ, back on the surface with Ewan and the fighting pokemon.

"Uh, Ewan." It was the Machop. All of them were sitting on the floor waiting for Rita and Lloyd to return. "Its been quite a while. You think the wild pokemon beat them?"

Ewan let out a sigh. "Looks like it, ok boy, you know the drill. Lets get down there and find them both. Too bad really, they seemed to have such potential…"

"Hey, don't figure us for losers yet."

It was Rita, she had come out from the hole leading to the 10th level. Ewan was speechless.

"Especially when you haven't seen our little gift."

When she said that, Ewan had thought she meant the reward at the end of the 10th floor. But then he saw a red pokemon pop out of the hole, along with Lloyd, who was pushing the red pokemon up.

"Wait, is this who I think it is?"

"Yep." Said Rita. "This is the fugitive Zar, and we captured him all by ourselves after passing one hundred percent of the sewer."

"This is… Incredible… you guys are going to be legends around here!"

"Was there any doubt?"

Nobody seemed to notice what was happening to Zar except Lloyd, who had decided to rest after the long climb. Zar was glowing as if he was evolving, but this time it seemed different, like he was losing, not gaining, power.

Then, before Lloyd's eyes, Zar transformed into the Charmander he originally met. He had de-evolved.

"Um, guys! Come look at this!"

Wondering what the fuss was about, everyone, including the two fighting pokemon sent to assist Ewan came over. When they all saw Zar, no longer a Charmeleon, but a Charmander, they all gasped aloud.

"This is unbelievable… he actually devolved?"

"You know what happened Ewan?"

"I've never even heard of such a thing, forget seen it myself. This is not good…"

"What's gonna happen now anyways Ewan? We passed the exam with flying colors. And…" But Rita saw Ewan wasn't listening, he continued to stare at Zar as if he was slowly turning inside out. "Um, Ewan?"

"Listen you two, you should head back to your rooms. I'll come by and talk to you later. For now I recommend not talking to anyone and just staying in your room. Understand?"

"Yeah, but…" began Rita.

"No buts, just go, NOW!"

Rita and Lloyd didn't need to be told twice, both left the room together and went straight to their room.

"Wow, that do you thinks going on Lloyd?"

"I don't know, but from how Ewan was reacting, things are going to get a whole lot more complicated."


	7. Relaxing at Sunshine Spa

Chapter 11: Relaxing at the Sunshine Spa

Location: Brotherhood HQ, Room 160

Rita and Lloyd waited in their room, nothing to do but sit on their beds and wait for Ewan to come talk to them. Rita still stunk from all the things that happened to her in the sewer.

After what felt like hours, Ewan quietly came into the room and closed the door behind him. He waited a few seconds before speaking.

"I'm sorry for all this sneaking around and being quiet and such, but I really don't want there to be and panic in the headquarters about this."

"What happened Ewan? Why did he devolve like that?" asked Lloyd.

"I have no idea specifically, there are numerous reasons for it to happen, none of them good. Luckily it doesn't seem to be anything that'll effect any other pokemon, like a virus or something, but its still not good."

"What's going to happen to Zar now?" This time, Rita was the one who asked.

"Well, he was going to be taken directly to the towns jail, but the de-evolution has taken quite a toll on him. You see, typically when this happens, the pokemon in question loses almost all his power, not just the power they gained from evolving, all of it, like they had been thrown off a cliff, or went through the longest mystery dungeon in the world without food, or..."

"We get it Ewan." Interrupted Lloyd. "What's going to happen now? Do we still get the reward for his capture? And what about the exam?"

"Don't you worry about the exam, this whole mess doesn't change anything, a little bit of paper work you gotta do tomorrow and you're official."

"That's great but Ewan..." Rita saw he was avoiding the other part of the question. "What. About. Zar's. Bounty!"

"Well... the thing is, I found out that you won't be getting any reward from his capture. It turns out you can't get rewarded unless your members, which you guys currently are not yet. There's nothing I can do about that."

"You're kidding me... But Lloyd and I worked so hard..."

"I'm really sorry, but hey, the good news is the money gets donated to local charities, so some good came out of it right?"

Lloyd and Rita said nothing.

"Well anyways, you two are free for the rest of the day. Nothing you guys can do until tomorrow. Go ahead and tour the town, I'm sure you two haven't looked around it yet... What's that smell?"

Lloyd held back a laugh. "Rita, she fell in the sewer, and got chewed on by a Muk."

"Wow, you stink Rita!" Rita gave Ewan a threatening glare. "Ahh, but I have the perfect solution. In town there is a spa you can go to, have you clean and smelling great in a flash. Its just down the street, tell them I sent you and they will charge the whole thing to me."

"Well that sounds good I guess. What about Lloyd?"

"Well, he kinda stinks too, so you can join her."

"Hey!"

"Oh, before you leave, what did you get on the tenth floor? I'm dying to know!"

"We don't know either." Lloyd went over to Rita's bag, which was thrown aside once they got back to their room. He rummaged around and found the object. "It just looks like a rock to me."

"Hmm, nope, sorry, I don't know what it is either. I guess..."

"We could ask the captain?" interrupted Rita. "We thought of that already, we'll see him tomorrow."

"Actually you won't, the captain left this morning for personal reasons, said he wont be back for a while."

"Oh." Both Rita and Lloyd said together.

"Don't worry about it, go on and relax at the spa. It'll do you two good."

---

Location: Unknown

"Sir, we just been informed that Zar has been captured by the brotherhood, shall we send a team to get him out?"

"Don't, he failed me for the last time. I have plenty of others who would gladly hunt down the specimen for me."

"Who should I contact?"

"Hmm, send Gastly and Raticate to Maverick, have them tell him that there is a huge poke reward if he can capture the specimen."

"Yes boss, contacting them now."

---

Location: Wasteland, Hideout

Raticate and Gastly had found this place soon after Zar dismissed them. Without anywhere else to go they decided to hide here. The place wasn't all that nice, it was an old human house still intact after so long, it smelled awful and looked like it would collapse at any moment.

The two of them were just sitting around, relaxing in what used to be a living room, when the radio began to activate, creating a static sound that gradually became clear.

"Hey Rat, answer it will you?!"

"Don't call me Rat!"

Raticate got up and picked up the radio. He began to speak into it.

"Hello? Who is it?"

He was expecting Zar, calling to tell them he had succeeded and that they were useless morons or something of that nature.

"You two, I've got a message from the boss..."

It wasn't Zar, it was the bosses assistant or whatever, she usually was the one to call and pass on messages not important enough for the boss to pass on himself.

"... He wants to go and assist Maverick in the capture of the target. Zar has failed and is now in custody of the Brotherhood."

"So Zar failed huh?" _Hahahahahaha! Who's the moron now?_ "That's terrible. We'll go right away."

"See that you do. Tell Maverick that the reward is one million poke if the target is alive."

"Wow, that's a lot. We will go right now. Over and out."

The radio then turned to static, raticate turned it off.

"Was it Zar?"

"Nope, he's in jail, the boss wants us to go work with Maverick to continue the mission."

"Ahahaha, I hope Zar stays in that prison for the rest of his life. Lets go."

---

Location: Havok city, Sunshine Spa

Lloyd and Rita didn't have to walk far from the headquarters to reach the Spa, a five minute walk down the road and they were there.

When they entered, the entire place smelled wonderful, like an entire field of flowers. It even covered up most of the smell coming off of Rita and Lloyd.

They were soon greeted by a pokemon, a Chansey, but unlike most Chansey who worked as nurses and doctors, this one was not wearing any uniform.

"Welcome to Sunshine Spa." She said. "How can we revitalize you today?"

"Our friend Ewan sent us, he said you guys would send the bill his way."

Chansey smelled the air around them.

"I see, so you guys are new recruits huh?"

"How did you know?" Said Lloyd.

"Ewan sends us lots of recruits who have just gone through the exam. Now, you're a Chikorita, so you'll be getting the grass type treatment, and you are... electric?"

"Uh, yeah, I am."

'Ok, your treatment is upstairs. Just wait a moment I'll have another employee come get you while I bring the young lady with me."

"Ok then, see you later Rita."

"Yeah, see you later."

---

Chansey lead Rita down a short hallway and opened the second door to the right. Inside was a bath tub full of what looked like mud.

"Sooooo, I'm taking a bath in mud? Won't I get more dirty?"

"The mud is specially made to kill bacteria and eliminate bad aromas. It is as well warmed up, to relax sore muscles. Grass types find it very soothing, some believe its because of there, pun unintended, roots as plants, who got their nutrients from the earth. An hour in their and you'll find yourself cleaner then you ever have been, as well completely in a state of relaxation."

"Well if you say so, thanks a lot."

"It is no problem, please enjoy yourself."

Chansey left the room and closed the door behind her. Rita was now alone for the first time in a while.

Rita was a bit unsure that mud could really do all the things the Chansey had said. He tip toed up the stairs beside the tub, stood at the edge and looked in, the surface was smooth and brown, with the occasional bubble rising and popping around the edges.

She placed her foot in, and instantly she could feel the effects, it felt wonderful. It felt like her leg was going to just melt off her body, it was so relaxed. She stopped hesitating and walked right in, she didn't sink right down like she would with water, she slowly sank until she got to the bottom. Every inch the mud crawled up her body multiplier the amount of pure joy she felt inside her.

"This is amazing!"

When she finally stopped sinking, she was sitting on the flat surface at the bottom of the tub, only her head poking out, the leaf on her head limp. Rita had never been so relaxed in her entire life, she could stay here her entire life.

The whole experience only got better when the tub got hotter, bubbles started to rise and pop more frequently.

She couldn't help but to close her eyes, she fell asleep in the mud bath as it worked its magic.

---

Lloyd decided to take a seat in a chair in the waiting room. Rita had left only a minute ago, but Lloyd was kinda jealous she was already getting ger spa treatment.

Out a different door came another pokemon, another Chansey (or the same one, he couldn't really tell.)

"Greetings, if you'll come this way sir." Lloyd got out of the chair and followed the Chansey upstairs.

"We don't get many electric types, may I ask why you have come?"

"Ewan, from Team Torrent, sent us here."

"Oh yes, I know him, very nice fellow."

At the top of the stairs there was two doors, both on the left. Chansey went to and opened the first door. Inside was a sight Lloyd didn't expect, it didn't look like what he imagined a room of relaxation to be. Inside was a lot of machinery, the centre piece to it all being a large horizontal tube.

"So what are you going to do that'll relax me so much?"

"This device is very simple, the first phase is a simple shower of water, this is to get to wet and to remove a majority of the dirt and things off your body. The second phase is the machine creates an electrical current that targets the muscles in the body, the process replicates the feeling of a full body massage. Because of the use of electricity, it is only safe to use the machine on electric type pokemon such as yourself. Once you get in you will be closed off from the rest of the room, I will be here and operate the machine."

"And this whole process wont hurt right?"

"Most certainly not, quite the opposite in fact, your whole body will feel very good during and after the machine does its thing."

Chansey went over to one of the other machines, one covered in colourful buttons. She pressed a big red one. The door of the tube opened and a metal staircase used to get in slowly came out of the floor.

"Please enter the machine now sir."

Lloyd went over to the stairs and climbed up, the bottom of the tube was covered in what looked like a thin mattress, the rest was a plain, grey metal, except for several black circles lining the top, going from one end of the tube all the way to the other. Lloyd climbed in and Chansey pressed the red button again, closing the tube.

It was dark inside, Lloyd couldn't see anything. A moment passed and a faint blue light turned on at each end of the tube, barely enough to see with, it made it look as though he was somewhere at the bottom of a pool or something.

The black circles at the top retracted themselves, each replaced with a large disk covered in holes. Out of them sprayed a gentle mist of water onto Lloyd, it was slightly cool, which made it rather refreshing.

When it stopped, he was stripped of all the dirt and dust from his body, or at any he could notice. The disks retracted like the black circles did, and were replaced with what looked like lightning rods.

The machine began to hum, charging up electricity. It kept going and going until it sounded like the machine was about to explode. The little lightning rods glowed with energy, looking like little pieces of coral at the bottom of his little ocean.

The machine stopped humming. A moment later the little rods began to discharge the electricity into Lloyd, targeting everywhere on his body. He expected the sensation to hurt, but instead it felt like dozens of little hands were rubbing the sore spots on his body, the feeling was wonderful to Lloyd.

The thin mattress he was laying on began to heat up, warming his back, this greatly added to his enjoyment. His whole body was totally relaxed and felt great.

The calming blue light and feeling in his body began to make him tired. He closed his eyes and eventually went to sleep, the machine still pumping electricity into his body.

---

Two hours passed, feeling completely clean and calm, both Lloyd and Rita (Rita showering off the mud first,) walked back into the waiting room, both the Chanseys were waiting for them.

"We both hope you enjoyed your stay with us."

"Please come again."

Both Rita and Lloyd sleepily said thank you. And left, walking towards the Brotherhood HQ.

"That was amazing." Said Lloyd.

"We have to come back again."

"Agreed."

It was night time, and both had to go to bed so they could be well rested for tomorrow. Everyone had already gone, the halls of the Brotherhood was empty, even the Lopunny was off to bed.

---

Location: Brotherhood HQ, Room 160

Even the elevator didn't bother Lloyd, he was feeling too good for a little motion sickness to bother him. Rita had already fallen asleep.

Lloyd was laying in bed, just about to sleep. He layed down without another thought in his mind and quickly drifted off.

Before he lost all consciousness, he heard a voice, a faint, deep voice, belonging to an unknown person or pokemon in his head.

_"Activate... destroy everything... kill everyone... immediately."_

Then, Lloyd fell asleep. Ignoring the voice, thinking it was just his imagination.


	8. The Havok City Massacre

Something new to note

_**This**_ is something written

Chapter 12: The Havok City Massacre

"Ahhhh, what's happening!?"

"Somebody is here, sound the alarm!"

"Help! He's got me! Ahhhh!"

"Shut up and die! DIE! Hahahaha!"

"Someone... help me..."

---

Location: Havok City, Alleyway

All of Lloyd's good feelings went away when he was awakened. He wasn't in his bed, he wasn't even in the brotherhood headquarters, he was alone, cold and had a huge headache. Lloyd stood up and tried to walk, his head was pounding so loud and hard it was like a whole army of pokemon was stomping their way through the alley.

Lloyd began to walk out into the street, hoping to see where he was, what he saw was horrifying.

Several buildings were destroyed, the roofs caved in. And the body's of pokemon all around, Lloyd couldn't tell if they had fainted, or something worse, had been killed.

_What's happened? What could have done this?_

Lloyd knew he wasn't going to find out here. As quickly as he could, Lloyd began to make his way back to the brotherhood.

---

Location: Brotherhood HQ, Front Entrance

"I can't just stay here!" Rita was arguing with Ewan, every since this morning everything was in total chaos.

"I know you're worried about Lloyd, but the thing is, he could be anywhere by now, and the last thing we need is you wandering around while some mad pokemon is out causing all this destruction."

"Listen Ewan, he's my partner, I'm not leaving him to get killed out in the street!"

They continued to argue, neither noticed for a while that Lloyd was making his way towards the HQ at that time.

"Listen Rita, I am your superior and you will listen to me, you are staying right here until things are safe!"

Rita was about to go back inside, stamping her feet along the way, but at the last minute she saw Lloyd, he was heading this way.

"Lloyd!" She yelled, and dashed out of the HQ, Ewan didn't try to stop her.

She was so excited to see Lloyd alive, from what she heard this intruder everyone was talking about had actually killed a bunch of pokemon, not just Brotherhood members, but also citizens of Havok City.

Full of joy and worry, Rita leaped into Lloyds arms. Lloyd wasn't expecting such enthusiasm and was knocked over, his headache had stopped hurting so much so Lloyd didn't mind.

"Glad to see you too Rita."

"Oh Lloyd, I was so worried, I thought you were dead somewhere, I'm so glad you're safe!"

"That's great, could you get off me now please?"

Embarrassed, Rita stepped off of Lloyd, letting him get up off the road.

"Lets go back to the HQ, I'd like to know what's going on."

They both walked back the main entrance of the HQ, Ewan was waiting for them.

"Ewan, what's going on here? Why was I in the street like that?"

"We won't know until the scouts return from searching the city. We're pretty sure this intruder is gone, but we want to make sure. Meanwhile, I want you two to go and sign that paperwork I told you about, it'll be in your mail box, in the mail room."

"Where is the mail room?" Asked Lloyd.

"Just down the hall from here, first door on the left, you can't miss it."

"Come on Lloyd lets go." Rita and Lloyd both left the main hall, leaving Ewan in the main hall, awaiting the first scout reports.

---

Location: Brotherhood HQ, Mail Room

Rita and Lloyd found the mail room easily, it looked just as both imagined. It had holes all over the walls, each labelled with the names of the brotherhood teams, the only thing else in the room was a desk, at which sat a Buneary, who was sorting a few envelopes.

"Excuse me." Said Rita. "We're new, and Ewan said to come here to sign paper work."

"Oh yes, I was expecting you." She said this without looking at them, she was still focused on her sorting. "The stuff you need to read is in the cubby hole with a red label, that's yours and that's where you will find any mail in the future, including your mission for the day."

Lloyd and Rita looked around the room and saw that every label was white, except for one, one the lowest row, right near the door, was a red one with no name, it was filled with things.

Lloyd took them out, one bundle of papers was stapled together, with 'Recruitment Forms' written at the top.

"These must be it." Said Lloyd.

"Hey you two!" It was the Buneary. "If you'd like you can use my desk, I have to go get some more stuff from the back." Buneary was obviously a workaholic. She frantically rushed to the back to do whatever it was she needed to do so badly.

Lloyd sat in the chair she was just sitting in before she bolted, took a pen that was laying there are began to read the forms. But right off the bat he reached a question he couldn't answer.

_**Name of Team**_

_**_________________**_

"Rita, we haven't thought of a name yet have we?"

"No we haven't... What are we gonna name ourselves?"

"Lets think for a sec..."

_What could we possibly name ourselves? _Thought Lloyd. _The only team we even know is Team Torrent, we have no idea on what kind of names there are... _Then an Idea came to Lloyd.

"Lets check the labels of the mail boxes, get some ideas."

"Good idea, you do it since you're taller then me."

Lloyd got out of the chair and read the names on the labels. But Lloyd noticed they didn't use the full names, only the first three letters. Team Hur., Team Jol., Team Bun., Team Dar., none of these were helpful.

"Ok this isn't gonna work, the names are shortened on the labels."

"Well it looks like were gonna have to think about this then, just leave it blank and we'll come up with one later on."

Lloyd sat back down and read further down, the second thing on the form reminded them of a second problem they had forgotten about.

_**Founding Three Members**_

_**__________ __________ __________**_

"We still haven't gotten ourselves a third member."

"Don't worry about that, remember, Ewan said we had a whole month to find one."

"I'm just saying, and lets try not to put it off, I don't wish to get kicked out because we couldn't find a third member."

Lloyd wrote down their names, and left the last space blank.

The remainder of the forms were simple to answer, containing things like 'What are your reasons for forming this Team?' and 'Do any founding members have a criminal record?', all of which Lloyd answered to the best of his ability.

When the forms were finished, the last thing was what to do with it all.

_**Please place forms into brown envelope provided and leave them in your mailbox.**_

Lloyd looks in the pile of things that came in the mail box, one of them was the brown envelope. He took all the forms, folded them and inserted them inside. He handed the envelope to Rita.

"Put this in the mailbox, and then were done."

She did so right away.

"So, looks like were official members now... right Lloyd?"

"As long as Ewan hasn't left out any more steps, I guess we are."

"Is there anything else in the stuff from the mail?"

Lloyd saw that there was three things left. Both packages, both boxes, and a letter. On the top of one it said 'poke for new team'. Excited, Lloyd opened the box and as promised, the box contained five thousand poke.

"Finally!" Said Rita. "Some real cash to spend."

"Rita, this is for supplies, for our missions, not fun stuff."

"Oh come on, five thousand just for supplies? Can't we buy something for us to do in the room after a mission? A television, or maybe a decent radio..."

"We have a radio."

"I broke it!"

"... You broke it already?"

"The knob was stuck."

Lloyd sighed. "Fine, we'll buy something CHEAP next time we can for the room. But the rest is for supplies."

Lloyd closed the box with the money and put it down on the desk, he took the other box and read the top of it. 'From Ewan.' Inside was even more poke, another five thousand. As well was a small note.

_**I managed to get the reward for the capture of Zar, I told them it was me who captured him, so they gave me the poke. I took some as a little 'thank you' present of coarse though, I like a little cash in my wallet too.**_

_**Good luck on your first mission. I took the liberty of choosing an easy one for you. You are to leave at noon exactly, be sure to take plenty of food, its a long walk.**_

_**Ewan.**_

"So, what's in it Lloyd?"

He showed her the contents of the box.

"Aww, that's awesome! We have to spend this money, we earned it."

"Well that's true, we'll see when we go shopping before we decide now ok?"

Rita sighed. "I guess... What's the last thing from the mail."

Lloyd assumed it was their mission. He opened the letter and began to read.

_**Dear Brotherhood**_

_**I ask for your assistance at Pipton. The fish from our lake have disappeared and I suspect that something happening in the mystery dungeon 'Celsius Cave' is the reason behind this, I believe this because a group of three strange pokemon entered the mystery dungeon yesterday, and have yet to leave.**_

_**I can't offer you much in terms of money, but I personally will do anything I can to satisfy the team you send.**_

_**Issac, Son of the Mayor of Pipton**_

"It's our first mission, Ewan picked it for us."

"Where is it?"

"Some place called Pipton."

Rita laughed, "Oh I can't wait for this."

"Why?"

"Piplup, the pokemon that live there, are total morons, they act like the missing link between us and wild pokemon. They are totally stupid!"

"Well this letter came from the mayors son, he didn't sound all that dumb to me."

"Wow, a Piplup that can read and write? I'm surprised they don't consider him a god or something."

"Come on Rita, they can't be that bad can they?"

"Just wait Lloyd, just wait. We should probably leave now. It's a long way to Pipton."

---

Location: Brotherhood HQ, Main Entrance

Before leaving, Rita went down the elevator to get some apples, leaving Lloyd behind, he didn't want to be sick for his first mission. When they were all ready they began to head out the same entrance where they were this morning. Ewan was still here, now surrounded by pokemon frantically trying to get his attention. Rita and Lloyd figured they were the scouts he sent out into town.

"Hey Ewan!" Call out Rita. "We signed all our stuff, and got the money from you. Thanks so much for thinking of claiming the reward for yourself."

"It was no problem at all." He looked in Lloyd direction. "You should consider yourself lucky you know, from the scouts report, ninety six pokemon confirmed dead, including twenty Brotherhood members."

"Ninety six pokemon were killed?!" Exclaimed Lloyd. "What could have done such a thing?"

"Well the thing is, nobody got a clear look at the pokemon. The most anyone saw was that it was black, taller then most pokemon, and seemed to be in some kind of frenzy, like it had lost its mind."

"So, this pokemon got away then?"

"Yep, we searched the entire town and found nothing, other then its trail of death and destruction, its basically disappeared."

"Are you sure it safe for us to go on our first mission with that madman loose?" Asked Rita.

"Your missions are never safe, even without a mad pokemon going about killing folk. And without your help that town is gonna starve to death, it would be silly to stop doing missions today because of this."

Rita and Lloyd couldn't help agree with that, their mission was too important.

"So you two, you better go right away. It's a long walk there, and I have things to do here. Good luck."

Without another word, Lloyd and Rita left the Brotherhood headquarters and headed towards the town gate, onwards towards the first real mission together.


	9. Glacier Tunnel

Just so you guys know, if all goes well, the story is going to be around 50 chapters long before the end (all 1000-3000 words a piece.) Afterwards I'm gonna take a break. After about a month, I'm gonna start to write a sequel story with a whole new plot.

Also, i took out the Prologue, it just sucked in my opinion and really was unnecessary. I'll probably write a better one when the story is finished, that way I can add things hinting at stuff in future chapters.

---

Chapter 13: Glacier Tunnel

Location: Middle of the Wasteland, Half Way to Pipton

_Not a good start._ Thought Lloyd. Despite Rita's 'expert' navigation, they managed to get lost somewhere along the way to Pipton.

"Rita, why don't you let me look at your map? Maybe I can..."

"No! You'll just get us even... loster!"

"I don't think loster is a word."

Rita just stared at him for a second and moved on.

Lloyd never saw the map Rita had always carried with her. She always was either looking at it, or had it packed away. _Why would she be hiding a map?_

Rita stopped and took the map out again, looking at it closely to prevent Lloyd sneaking a peak over her shoulder.

"Come on let me see!"

"No! It's my map and I'll do what i want with it. Besides, I know where we are now."

"Are you sure this time? Because that's what you said ten minutes ago, and were still lost."

"Yes I'm sure. See that rock?" She pointed the leaf on her head in the direction of a tall, brown rock. "If we go north of this rock for half an hour, we'll be at the foot of Glacier Mountains."

"You better be right about that. My feet hurt from all the walking in circles."

---

Lloyd followed Rita for over an hour, who, despite the fact its been over an hour and they still haven't seen the mountain, walked confidently forward.

They climbed over a large rock, Lloyd couldn't believe what he saw. Not far from where they were now, was the same, tall brown rock they used as a landmark, Rita had taken them both in a huge circle.

"You have got to be kidding me! Rita face it, you can't navigate worth..."

"Wait, I hear something! Quiet!"

Lloyd listened, and could hear it too, it was music, and it was nearby.

"Who could that be?"

Lloyd and Rita went towards the music. _Could it be that Squirtle?_ Thought Rita. She could remember him helping her find restown back when Rita had found Lloyd, the music was different though, the instrument was some kind of string instrument, like a guitar or something.

The music seemed to come from the ruins of some building, almost calling to the both of them.

They both went to the building and went inside. Rita didn't see the Squirtle, the music was instead coming from an abandoned radio.

Both Lloyd and Rita thought is was strange, a radio should have ran out of power a while ago, unless it was turned on recently.

"You two are rather easy to lure, you know that? This could have been a trap."

Rita and Lloyd turned to face the voice. Rita recognized him immediately, it was the green shelled Squirtle.

"Hey! Its you!" She said.

"Really? Funny, I noticed that too. I heard you two were on your way to Pipton, did I hear correctly?"

Lloyd nodded. "Yeah, but how exactly do you know?"

"I have my sources, and I have my methods, all that you need to know is that I am here to help you. Your lost right?"

Rita and Lloyd couldn't argue that fact. "Yeah... Its Rita's fault."

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Hey! You two shouldn't be fighting over something so small, don't worry about it ok? I'm gonna lead you to where you need to go, all I ask is you take me with you."

"What do you need in Pipton?" Asked Lloyd.

"Just looking for something that belongs to me, something stolen a long time ago."

"Lloyd, trust me when I say we can trust him. Without him we both would have died out in the desert on the way to Restown."

Lloyd thought for a moment. "Well, we really have no choice in this, you lead the way."

"Its just this way, hurry up now, its gonna be dark soon."

---

Location: Glacier Mountain (earlier that day)

Knock, knock. Someone was at the door.

"Who is it? You better have a good reason for trespassing!"

"Its us Maverick, we have a mission for you from the boss. Lots of money in it for you."

_Great, Gastly has come to visit me. I'm sure that idiot Raticate is with him too._ "One sec, I

m coming."

Maverick was a Prinplup, living alone on the mountains above what once was him home town, watching them from above with hate in his eyes.

He cracked the door open. "You have ten seconds, what's the mission, and how much?"

"The boss wants you to capture a pokemon for him." Said Raticate. "The master said to stir up trouble in that Pipton place, and they'll come right to you. Do that for him and you'll get more money then you'll ever need."

"Intriguing, but how does your master know for sure that they will get sent here?"

Gastly explained the rest. "They recently joined the Brotherhood, the rest you don't need to know. All you really need to know is the boss is pulling the strings, and all you need to do is capture the puppet."

"All right, I'll do it then. I've been wanting to terrorize those little freaks in Pipton for a while. Now leave me be, go back to your boss or whatever." Maverick closed the door.

_This is gonna be fun._

---

Location: Glacier Tunnel

Rita must have been embarrassed, they reached the tunnel entrance in less then twenty minutes with Squirtles help, without a map too. He obviously knew his way around the wasteland.

"Here we are children, the Glacier Tunnel!"

Lloyd clapped, only half sarcastically, Rita just looked ticked off.

"You were just lucky." She said.

"Yeah, that's probably it, either way it was still because of me you got here, am I right?"

Rita said nothing. Lloyd held in a laugh.

"Well, lets not waste time now, I'm sure you two are in a rush to get there. In we go!"

---

The tunnel was cold and icy, as its name suggested, the whole thing looked like it was carved through a frozen lake or something.

"Great, more cold, I hate the cold." Rita was shivering like crazy. Lloyd didn't mind and it, didn't look like the Squirtle did either.

Squirtle reached into his pack, and pulled out a big, red scarf.

"Here, take this, consider it a gift."

Squirtle went over to her and wrapped it around her neck, it was a perfect fit, almost as if it was made specifically for her.

"Wow, thank you, its really warm."

"Its really no problem, I have no need for it anyway."

Squirtle led the way down a hallway of ice, he knew what he was doing apparently. In the first room they came to, they spotted their first wild pokemon, a Delibird.

"Let us take care of this guy Squir..." Started Rita.

But before she could even finish her request, Squirtle sprang into action, his hand glowing white. Squirtle ran to Delibird and delivered a devastating punch, felling it instantly.

"Tle... Wow, your amazing! Was that Mega Punch?"

"Yes, quite a useful move don't you think? Come on, I'm sure you'll see it a lot from me here."

Squirtle sure was in a hurry, he wasted no time moving on to the next room, and then the next. In that room was the stairs, and another wild pokemon, this time a Furret. It noticed them right away and growled.

"Squirtle, let us fight this one ok?"

"Hmm, go ahead then."

He stepped behind Lloyd and Rita.

"Lets do this Lloyd!"

Lloyd and Rita prepared for Furrets attack. Furret went for Lloyd, lowering its head in preparation for a headbutt attack. Lloyd jumped over it easily. In retaliation, Lloyd and Rita both used their favorite attacks, thunder shock and leaf attack, both hitting the Furret at the same time. It stumbled for a sec then fell over, fainted.

"Good job you two, you work well together."

Squirtle headed to the stairs and began to go down.

"Ugh, thanks!" Said Lloyd as Squirtle was going.

Lloyd and Rita followed after him.

---

Location: Glacier Tunnel, 7th Floor

With Squirtles help, the entire mystery dungeon was a cake walk. They all took turns with each wild pokemon they encountered, Squirtle easily fighting on his own, and Lloyd and Rita using their teamwork to take on the rest. Only a few times had they fought more then one wild pokemon at once, when that happened, all three fought together, and the wild pokemon didn't stand a chance.

On the seventh floor, the next stairs down was immediately visible, and the only thing here was a single room with a statue of a pokemon, a statue of a Kangaskhan.

"What's this thing?" Asked Rita.

Squirtle touched the statue, out of nowhere appeared an apple, which Squirtle grabbed out of the air and began to eat.

"Nobody knows how they work, but somehow they make anything belonging to you appear like this apple did, letting you get things you need for the rest of the mystery dungeon. They typically appear in large mystery dungeons." He took a bite of his apple. "Come here and try it."

Rita approached the statue and put her paw on its base.

"Uhh, what do I do?"

"Just think hard about what you want, and It'll bring it."

_Lets see, what to bring here, we got no supplies we need... I'll test this thing by having it bring... The radio I broke! That'd be perfect. Bring me the radio statue!_

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the radio appeared falling on Rita's head.

"Ow!"

"Yeah, its does that sometimes, make sure your also paying attention when you call for things. If there's nothing else you need, lets go."

Squirtle left first, then Rita, but Lloyd picked up the Radio and looked at it, it had a big hole in it, roughly the size of Rita's paw.

"What the heck did you do to it?!"

But she was already gone, Lloyd followed after her and stopped her before she went down the steps.

"How did this happen?" He said, holding the radio, waving it around as he spoke.

"It wasn't working, and it just fell apart when I tried to fix it."

"You tried to fix it by bashing it in!?"

"Well, umm... LLOYD LOOK OUT!"

Lloyd looked behind him, but didn't see anything. Then he figured out what she was doing. When he turned around, she was already gone.

"This is so coming out of your cut of the reward..."

---

Location: Glacier Tunnel, 11th floor

Things had been going well so far, it was thanks to Squirtles help mostly, his skill in fighting was amazing.

"So, Squirt, do you have a name or something?"

"Probably."

"... And that means?"

"I can't remember it."

"Did you lose your memory?" Asked Lloyd

"No, and yes. It's complicated, lets just say I don't have it now."

"But... No, I'm sure you have your reasons for keeping it to yourself. What can we call you then?"

"... Hmm, just stick with Squirt, or Squirtle, no point taking on a name I don't plan to keep."

"Your so, odd." Said Rita, regretting saying it so rudely. But she was sure he knew what she meant.

"I know, weird stuff will do that to you."

They moved on to the next room, having explored the entire floor, this one had to have the staircase in it.

The room indeed had the stairs in it, and other then that, the entire room was empty. Rita and Lloyd began to walk towards it, but Squirtle stopped them.

"Hold it, there are traps all around the stair case."

Rita and Lloyd never noticed it, but after he pointed it out, it was obvious something strange was marked on the floor.

"What is it?" Asked Lloyd.

"From the look of it, it looks like a rare trap, called the frost trap. You step on it, and you cant move at all anywhere from a minute to an hour."

This wasn't good, this meant either one of them would have to stay behind, or they would have to linger on the floor for a long time, leaving them vulnerable to wild pokemon.

"What are we gonna do?" Asked Rita

"There is only one option, I'm gonna trip the trap, and let you guys go up ahead. We can't just stay here, and you two probably don't want to separate, and lastly, I can easily take care of myself the rest of the way."

"Your sure? What about wild pokemon? What if they find you while you're here and frozen like that?"

"When I get frozen, all be surrounded by ice, there is nothing these wild pokemon can do but look at me from out of my prison."

Rita and Lloyd didn't like the idea, but their options were limited, and Squirtle was right, he was the only one who could be left behind safely.

"Ok, go for it then Squirtle, thanks for all your help."

"Yeah, and thanks for this scarf, I'll take good care of it."

"Good luck you two."

Squirtle stepped forward, and after three steps, he triggered the trap. Out of the ground sprayed some kind of blue mist. When the mist settled, Squirtle was enclosed in ice.

"That would have sucked for either of us." Said Lloyd.

"Especially me, I'm weak against ice."

"Well we should go, lets not waste time here when were so close."

"Right..."

They passed by Squirtle on the way, Lloyd gave him a wave on the way by. Squirtle could barely be seen through the ice, the only thing standing out was his green shell, which seemed to almost glow in the light.

---

Location: Glacier Tunnel, Final Floor

Luckily for Rita and Lloyd, the next floor was also the last, not far in the distance was an opening going outside. They were almost done.

They then heard a laugh from above, but there was nothing above them except a dark ceiling.

"Who's there?" called out Rita. But what ever was above them only laughed again, not saying anything. "Lloyd, this isn't good, this guy could be anywhere. We should just make a run for it."

Lloyd shock his head. "He'll be expecting that, in fact he's probably planning on it. I have a better idea."

Lloyd charged up, readying a thunder shock.

"What are you doing? We don't know where he is!"

"That's exactly why I'm doing this."

Lloyd unleashed the attack upwards. It struck the ceiling sending out a flash of light. Rita understood now, he was lighting up the darkness so they could find the pokemon.

Lloyd sent bolt after bolt of electricity, lighting up another area every time. Five or six times in, the light revealed someone.

"There Lloyd!"

Lloyd aimed his attack at the pokemon and managed to hit it in the arm. It couldn't hold on anymore and fell to the ground. It wasn't moving anymore, but they couldn't see it, it fell behind a rock.

"Whew, Rita go and see if its knocked out, I need to rest a sec." All the thunder shocks had made Lloyd tired, so Rita listened and went over,

When she peeked around the rock, she saw nothing, the pokemon was gone.

"Lloyd, he's not here! He's gone some..." But Rita couldn't finish her sentence, from out of nowhere the pokemon leaped towards her and with one of its claws, cut a huge mark across her side. She fell over, unable to stand up.

Lloyd was furious, he found he couldn't control himself anymore. His body was charging electricity much more rapidly then usual. Not only that, but the power inside grew beyond anything he ever felt before. He was using a new attack, he was charging up a thunder bolt.

The pokemon, now visible, that Lloyd knew was a Sneasel, noticed Lloyd standing there and came at him, claws bared.

Not a second too soon, Lloyd unleashed the attack, Sneasel couldn't possibly dodge the attack. Its entire body was consumed in electricity, making it glow yellow and stand completly still, unable to move at all.

When all the energy inside Lloyd was used up, Sneasel took two unsteady steps, and fell over, unconscious. For good measure, Lloyd gave it a swift, hard kick to the head.

Remembering Rita, Lloyd rushed over to her. She was unconscious still, the cut was huge and he doubted she could recover from it any time soon. He was going took her outside, hoping someone in Pipton could help her.

He picked her up, and much like she did with him before, began to carry her to help.

_Rita, please, stay with me, don't die!_


	10. Falling to Darkness

Chapter 14: Falling to Darkness

Location: Just outside of Pipton

Lloyd figured the town would be just outside the mystery dungeon, for all he knew it could have been, because the blizzard he had to walk though was so strong he couldn't see anything.

Rita was in poor condition, her breathing was rough, and her heart was beating faint. Lloyd, unlike Rita, couldn't carry a pokemon that well. He didn't have a large back like her, and his arms were pretty short, he had to carry her draped around his shoulders like a scarf..

_Please let me be going the right way! Please!_

Lloyd would have been amazed by his surroundings if Rita wasn't in trouble. He'd never seen snow before, and here was more snow then he could possibly imagine. What could have been wonderful was now a curse, the cold, the deep snow, and low visibility all took a toll on Lloyd. He wouldn't last long in the storm.

Lloyd didn't notice the log buried in the snow in front of him. He tripped over it and fell face first into the snow. Luckily he managed to hold firmly onto Rita, but his entire face was now in a great amount of pain, Lloyd figured he must have broken his nose or something, his entire face felt like it was burning. Lloyd didn't care though, Rita was the only thing he cared about right then.

He got up, Rita still on his shoulders, and kept walking into the blizzard, ignoring the pain. His only thoughts were of Rita.

_Hold on Rita, I wont give up, I'll never give up._

---

Location: Pipton, Mayors House

Isaac stared out the window of his house, watching the incredible storm, he'd never seen it this bad before.

_Will the Brotherhood guys be able to make it through this storm?_

Isaac hoped he wouldn't have to go himself, while he had gone through Celsius Cave himself many times before, he was concerned about the three pokemon he saw going in the cave not long ago. It was obvious they were the ones that turned off the machine that attracted the fish to Pipton Lake, but Isaac could never take on three pokemon alone.

Isaac had thought about gathering some of the other Piplup together to go inside with him, but none of them had been in a mystery dungeon before, none of them had even fought anything before.

It was getting dark out, soon it would be impossible to see more then an inch forward outside, if the Brotherhood guys were in the storm then, they would definitely be lost in the storm, and the village would have nobody to help them, and the village would eventually starve.

Isaac was about to leave the window, about to give up on anyone coming anytime soon, when he noticed a faint yellow blur, a pokemon marching his way through the storm.

It was them! They had come!

Isaacs excitement was short lived when he noticed that he was alone, except for a pokemon on his back, a Chikorita. When Isaac looked close at the Chikorita, he saw that it was severely injured, a huge cut across its side.

Isaac went outside to help.

---

Lloyd was exhausted, if this had been a normal walk, and Rita was not in so much trouble, he would have collapsed, unable to get back up by now.

He had been wandering through the blizzard for what felt like ages, still finding not even a sign of the town they were looking for, not a sign of civilization at all. Lloyd was beginning to lose hope for either of them making it, Lloyd couldn't get the thought of failing them both, not to mention the many pokemon in Pipton.

_I can't give up... Too many pokemon at stake... Got to keep going..._

Lloyd was beginning to feel light headed, and stumbled a bit in a particularly deep amount of snow. Lloyd and the storm were battling, and the storm was winning, ready to claim two lives as its prize.

The wind got stronger, and Lloyd fell backwards. The wind was so strong that Lloyds tired legs couldn't hold him up, so Lloyd continued on by crawled through the snow.

_I can't... give up...._

Lloyd felt his heart slowing down, each beat took longer to come, and thumped quieter each time. He knew he didn't have long left.

Lloyd was now on his belly, dragging himself through the snow with one hand, keeping Rita steady with the other. Lloyd knew it was pointless, and that he was just wasting precious energy, but he didn't care.

_I... can't... give... up..._

His vision was fading fast, everything slowly faded to black. Even still Lloyd continued to drag himself towards safety.

Lloyd tugged his body forward one last time, and was completely drained of energy, he couldn't move anything.

Everything slowly went dark, like the snow itself had turned black. Lloyd, unable to even hold up his head, planted his face into the cold ground, and began to fall asleep.

"_Don't give up!"_

_Huh?_

"_Your almost there, don't give up, you an do it!"_

_Who... are you?_

The voice was fading. _"Don't give up! You can do..." _But the voice was gone as quickly as it had came.

Lloyd thought it just his imagination, the exhaustion making him crazy. He thought his last thoughts before finally succumbing to the darkness.

_I'm sorry Rita..._

---

Lloyd opened his eyes, a bright light hung above him, blinding him for a moment.

_Am I dead?_

His eyes adjusted to the light and he saw he was in a cabin of some sort. He looked around, it was a very nice house, all the furniture clean, decorations located all over, most of the walls had book cases along them.

_Probably not dead then._

"Good morning, glad to see you awake."

The voice came from below him, it was a blue pokemon, large head, with a small yellow beak. He figured this must have been one of the Piplup.

"Umm, thanks?"

Then Lloyd remembered Rita.

"Where is Rita? Is she ok?"

"Hold on, lets worry about you right now ok?"

The Piplup dragged over a step ladder, Lloyd noticed for the first time he was on some kind of table, far above the ground. When the Piplup got to Lloyds height, he immediately grabbed his nose.

"Hold on, this is gonna hurt."

Crack! The Piplup had done something to his nose, it hurt like crazy, but after he done it, it didn't hurt at all.

"Your nose was broken, so I cracked it back into place, as long nothing hits it, the bone should heal quickly."

"Thanks I guess."

Before Lloyd could ask any more questions, Piplup had began to wrap a bandage around his leg. Lloyd didn't notice, but he had a fairly bad cut on it. As soon as the bandage was applied, his whole leg felt good.

"That should be everything, eat a few of your Oran berrys and you'll be in perfect health withen the hour."

"Thanks... Thanks a lot, umm."

"My names Isaac. I'm the one who sent the letter. I'm glad to see the Brotherhood sent someone so strong."

Isaac was obviously being sarcastic, but the point he was trying to make was right. Neither him nor Rita were ready for this mission.

"Listen, I'm sorry, my friend was attacked in Glacier Tunnel, and I had no idea how to get to town."

"I guess that's understandable, judging by the shape of the cut on your friend, it was a Sneasel that attacked you. They can be tricky pokemon, your not the first to be attacked by them.

"Thanks again for all your doing, my name is Lloyd, and my friend is Rita."

"About your friend, I'm afraid I have bad news..."

_Oh no... Please don't say she's dead... PLEASE!_

"While she is still alive, her condition is critical, and I unfortunately don't have what I need to help her."

"What do you need? Please, I'll do anything!"

"The funny thing is, the thing you need can be found at the bottom of Celsius Cave."

He got off his step ladder, Lloyd used it to get down off the table and follow after him.

In the next room was Rita, resting in a small bed, probably belonging tp Isaac. She had a large, white bandage around her body, a small line of red marking where the cut was. Her breathing didn't sound as bad as it had before, but she still looked and sounded like she was in pain.

"At the bottom of the cave is a machine, in that machine is berry juice, specifically Citrus Berry juice. The machine pumps small amounts of it into the lake to attract the fish we eat to survive, but the juice is also a very good medicine, and would heal your friend Rita in an instant. I could have just got the juice from the lake, but because the machine was shut down, that's impossible. The only way to cure your friend is to complete the mission I sent you."

"I don't know if I can, you see, if haven't fought anything without Rita's help before. And I have pokemon hunting for me, if they appear in the mystery dungeon, I'm done for."

"Then it looks like I'll have to go with you, I was hoping to avoid going in, but neither of us can go alone and both of us need to get down there. Come with me for a sec."

Isaac and Lloyd went into the next room, it looked like a big closet. Isaac went to the nearest shelf to the left and took a big blue scarf and put it on, he gave Lloyd a green scarf.

"Put that on, if you thought the blizzard was cold, wait till you get to Celsius Cave."

Lloyd nodded and put it on, it was a little small, but still fit him. It seemed to warm his whole body, like he was wearing a full suit.

"These scarves are amazing, what are they?"

"They are specially made to resist the cold, they were made a long time ago by humans. Not many are left I'm afraid."

"Humans made these?"

"Yep, back when they were still around these parts that is."

Isaac led Lloyd into another room. This time it was another bed room. Lloyd saw a much larger pokemon then them lying in bed, an Empoleon.

"Is that your dad?"

"Yeah, he sleeps quite a bit, so I have to do everything for him. I'm practically the unofficial mayor. Just need to borrow a few of his Oran berries and we can go."

Isaac went over to a shelve and rooted around. Lloyd stood there amazed by the size of the mayor, he was the biggest pokemon he had seen since waking up. His snores shock the house a little each time.

Isaac came back, carrying a bag much like the one they had, full of supplies to use in the mystery dungeon Celsius Cave.

"We must hurry, Rita is on borrowed time as it is."

Lloyd nodded. They both left the house, leaving the mayor and Rita to rest.

The blizzard had calmed a bit since Lloyd was in it, which was good, Lloyd didn't want to walk through it again.

"You ready Lloyd?"

"Yep, lets go."

Isaac led the way along the snow covered path. Both determined to succeed, both determined to not give up on the people relying on them.

---

---

---

~NEW STUFF TO READ~!

After the Pipton mission. I'm taking a break from the rapid chapter spewing (or RCS) to edit the heck out of all the chapters. Not just me, but also I'll be forcing, on threat of death, to get my GF Patricia (Erinlover or whatever her Penname is) to help as well. If anyone else wants to volunteer to proofread as well. Feel free to do so and send me emails of where to find any mistakes.

And one other thing, I'd like to bring up Lloyd. Yes it is quite obvious that he is a Pikachu (or is he? O:), but nobody else knows what he is, and I'm trying to write from the characters view of him, not the readers/writers (well, I'm TRYING to anyways. One of my weakness's is sticking to a single POV). Don't worry, I plan to have them find out what he is right after Pipton.

Lastly, speaking of the finding out of things. The topics of what happened to the world and where are all the humans is also going to be explained, perhaps in the same chapter as what pokemon Lloyd is.

Ok, I lied, one more thing. Thank you to the many people who have read my story. This is really fun and I hope to be doing this for a long time. Bonus that I don't have to pay for the privilege to write story's, games are expensive as heck nowadays.


	11. Saving Pipton

A huge mistake I noticed (well, huge to ME,) I've been calling Razor Leaf, Leaf Attack. I don't know why, I'll fix it along with anything else that needs fixing, like I promised.

Biggest chapter so far, enjoy!

Chapter 15: Saving Pipton

Isaac led Lloyd down the snow covered path, the storm getting calmer as time passed, Lloyd hoped this was somehow a sign, a sign that the worst had already come and passed.

Lloyd was surprise, he had yet to see another Piplup since coming here. Were they sleeping somewhere or something? Lloyd decided to ask, it would probably pass the time anyways as they trekked down through the cold, mountain path.

"Where is everyone Isaac? I thought Pipton was a town, but you're the only pokemon I've seen."

"All the others live near the lake, they almost never leave. Its where they sleep, and its where they eat, they never have reason to leave."

"Then why are you and your father not there?"

"I'm sure if my dad wanted to, he would go down there with the others. But me, I'm different, I have interests beyond just eating and sleeping. That's why I chose to live in that house, to keep my possessions in. Father is just there to protect me, to keep me safe."

"Other Interests, like what?"

"Reading, writing, what ever strikes my fancy at the time."

"What kind of stuff do you write, if you don't mind me asking."

"Not much I'm afraid, I haven't really found the inspiration needed to write anything half decent. I'm waiting for something, or someone, to spark my creativity."

"Well, I hope you find it soon."

Neither said anything else for a while. Lloyd wasn't much of a conversation starter, and Isaac didn't seem very talkative at all. Lloyd wasn't used to the silence, ever since waking up he's had Rita at his side, talking away.

Lloyd was already starting to miss her.

"Your about to see your Piplup Lloyd, the lake is right ahead."

Lloyd was thinking so hard about Rita, he hadn't even noticed the Lake Pipton come into view. Although Lloyd wouldn't call it a lake himself, it was basically a hole in the ice that a Snorlax could barely fit through. Around the 'lake' was the Piplup Lloyd was expecting to see, a lot of Piplup. Surrounding the lake had to be at least a thousand, if not two thousand, Piplup. Some wandered around, but most were sitting down in the snow, their eyes closed.

"We should go around, everyone is starving right now and if they smell our food they will probably steal our bag."

When Isaac said that, a Piplup they didn't notice had walked up to them, unseen, from their left.

"Pip?" Was all it said, it curiously stared at Lloyd.

"Um, hello?"

"Piplup." It came closer to Lloyd, so much closer that Lloyd had to lean back a little to avoid getting poked in the eye with its peak. The Piplup obviously didn't get the concept of personal space.

"Hey!" Said Isaac. "Pip, Piplup Pip!" The Piplup that was in Lloyds face looked at Isaac. Lloyd backed off while it was distracted.

Isaac took a small piece of apple of his bag and showed it to the other Piplup. "Piplup, pip pip!" Isaac threw the apple piece off towards the lake, and the other Piplup chased after it.

"What was that about?" Asked Lloyd.

"He thought you might have food."

"And what about what he said, he definitely wasn't speaking anything I could understand."

"Most Piplup, and even a lot of their evolutions, can't handle complex language. They speak there own unique and simple language."

"Why can you speak normally then?"

"I don't know, I always figured I was just smart… Or at least, smarter then the others. But that doesn't matter, Piplup are to well known as complete simpletons."

Isaac stood there in deep thought. Lloyd went over and put his paw on Isaac's shoulder.

"I don't think that, not at all. You guys are just… Different is all." Isaac smiled. (or at least, Lloyd thought it was a smile, hard to tell because of the beak.)

"Thank you Lloyd, if only the rest of the world was like you."

Towards the lake they both heard the chirping of Piplup. Both of them saw that about a dozen of them coming their way.

"Oh no, we gotta go Lloyd."

"Uh, right."

They ran away from the hungry Piplup, towards the Celsius Cave. The pokemon didn't follow for long, eventually losing interest and returning to the lakeside.

---

Lloyd and Isaac stood at the entrance of Celsius Cave, the large opening looking like the mouth of a giant monster. Lloyd couldn't see more then a few feet into the cave, it was so dark.

"Wow, this place is really scary looking."

"If you want to turn back now Lloyd..."

"No I can't, you need me, the other Piplup need me, Rita needs me. I can't let fear get in the way."

He looked at the dark, gaping cave again.

"Even if it's a lot of fear..."

---

Location: Celsius Cave, Basement 9

All was going according to plan, the machine that baited the lake with the berry juice was off, and the fish in the lake had all gone off somewhere else to feed. It wouldn't be long before all the retched Piplup will all have starved, or at the very least, fled somewhere far away. As long as they were gone, Maverick didn't care.

"So, Maverick, what are we going to do now?"

It was that idiotic Raticate, after leaving home and coming here, they had followed and insisted they accompany me. I could have just killed them and been rid of them, but that would probably anger their boss, and I wouldn't get paid.

"Just wait here, we need to stay until the Brotherhood guys get here. Once they do we'll attack them and kill them, all three of us."

"But what if they are too strong or..."

Maverick got close to Raticate. Out of fear of being punished for speaking out, Raticate braced for some kind of assault. Instead, Maverick got down to Raticates level and spoke softly to him.

"Do not worry. I have a backup plan in case they do defeat us. I assure you there is no way we will fail."

Maverick went to the berry machine and fiddled with a few things, leaving Raticate to stand there, awe struck.

_That 'Master Zar' they spoke of must have abused these two quite a bit. No wonder the idiot got himself captured, any plan worth doing requires servants to help you do it, no matter how incompetent._

Soon they would arrive, and Maverick would kill them both, and take Glacier Mountains for his own, rich as he could possibly imagine.

---

Location: Celsius Cave, Basement 1

The first floor of the cave was relatively empty of wild pokemon, Lloyd figured most of them would be in the deeper parts of the cave. Thanks to Isaacs scarf, the cave wasn't cold at all, he felt warm all over, like the scarf was emitting some kind of aura or shield or something.

To pass the time, Lloyd was telling Isaac the story of how Rita and him had met.

"... And if all that wasn't enough, a Muk came out of nowhere and actually ATE her!"

"Hahaha, she must has stunk so badly when you guys got out."

"You know it, she smelled like she was living in a garbage can all her life! After I saved her, we got to the basement of the sewer, where we fought this Chamaeleon named Zar, and beat him! After that, a whole bunch of crazy stuff happened."

"Like what?"

"First of all, Zar turned back into a Charmander when we got back to the surface."

"He devolved? I didn't think that was possible."

"According to Ewan, that guy from Team Torrent I told you about, it's a very rare, and very bad thing. And even weirder then that, after we got cleaned up at a spa Ewan sent us too, and went to bed, the entire city was attacked by a single pokemon. He killed a whole bunch of people and destroyed quite a few buildings too."

"That's terrible, did they catch the pokemon?"

"Nope, he escaped. After that, Ewan sent us here as our first mission, we got help from a squirtle along the way, who had to get left behind in Glacier Tunnel thanks to a trap, and Rita was attacked by that Sneasel, you know the rest."

"Wow, that's quite the story. I kind of admire your courage, the pair of you certainly are a valiant team."

"Yeah, thanks."

They cleared another room, which was empty, like every room they've been it so far.

"This is good, isn't it?" Asked Lloyd.

"I guess so, but its weird, even the upper levels have at least a few wild pokemon... This is strange to say the least."

In the next room, which was also empty, Lloyd and Isaac stopped to look around. Something wasn't right.

"Lloyd, lets stop for a second, this isn't normal. I think..."

But before he could finish, right by his head a great ball of fire whizzed by, catching Isaac by surprise, but not harming him. Swiftly he ducked behind the wall beside the hallway it came from.

"That's more like it, it seems the wild pokemon planned to ambushed us."

From the hallway came the pokemon that launched the fire attack, a Magby.

Lloyd ducked behind the wall opposite to Isaac.

"I didn't expect fire pokemon is this place. I thought it would just be ice types and such."

"Most of the pokemon here are fire types, they can keep warm quite easily because they are fire types."

_Well, that kinda makes sense I guess._

Lloyd and Isaac hadn't noticed, but the room they had stopped in only had one exit. And the one they came is was blocked by the Magby that attacked them, who was joined by another Magby, and a Zubat.

Isaac poked his head around the corner and out his mouth came several large bubbles, obviously the bubble attack. Most of them missed, but a few hit the first Magby, stunning it momentarily.

Copying Isaacs tactic, Lloyd charged up a thunder shock attack, rounded the corner for a sec, fired it at the group of pokemon, and quickly returned to safety. Lloyds attack hit the zubat, who flew right into it, it crashed into the icy snow below, and fainted.

One down, two to go.

Isaac repeated his bubble attack, this time hitting the Magby with every single bubble. The Magby couldn't stand the attack and was knocked out.

Only one was left, but instead of staying to fight, it turned tail and fled, knowing it had no chance alone.

"Whew, that was close, your a great fighter Isaac."

"I would like to say the same about you, your aim is especially good. This place should be a piece of cake."

With the wild pokemon no longer an issue, Lloyd and Isaac quickly found the stairs to the second basement level.

"Here we are, lets get going as soon as... Isaac?"

Isaac wasn't listening, he seemed to be digging in the snow.

"Um, what are you doing?"

"There's something here."

Lloyd went over to where Isaac was digging and saw a small, blue object poking out slightly. Lloyd saw that it was an orb, like the two escape orbs he had found before.

"Wow, nice find. What orb is it?"

"One sec..."

Isaac continue to dig away the heavy snow. When the orb was dug out more then half way, Isaac grabbed onto it and popped it out.

"Lets see... According to the inscription, its an evasion orb. Pretty cool."

"What's it do?"

"Does something to your body, makes dodging attacks much easier. Really useful if your fighting a really strong pokemon."

"We should save that for later, sounds like a life saver."

Isaac promptly put it in his bag. "Done, and done. Looks like that's everything, lets go."

"Right. The sooner the better."

---

Location: Celsius Cave, Basement 4

So far the mystery dungeon was pretty standard. Fight wild pokemon, find stairs, rinse and repeat. Nothing unusual happened, and the only things they found were poke and a few Oran Berrys.

When they stepped onto the floor of basement 4, something felt strange. The ground was much wetter and slushy then the last three levels. Lloyd seemed to be the only one who noticed.

"Um, Isaac, is the ground supposed to be so wet?"

"Its the fire pokemon here, the deeper we get the more of them there are, and the more of them the hotter it gets. By the time we get to Basement 8, the entire place will be very smooth, grey stone."

Lloyd hadn't noticed before, but it was a little warmer then before. Still cold, but not as cold as anywhere else he's been in since getting here except Isaacs house.

"Speaking of the fire pokemon, here's one now."

Isaac was right, on its way to them was a tiny, black and yellow pokemon. It was a Cyndaquil.

It growled at them from across the room, then began to ready one of its fire attacks. Its head back and its back ablaze like a tiny campfire.

Isaac didn't waste time, he fired a bubble attack at the Cyndaquil, hitting it. Unfortunately, the attack neither fainted nor even made Cyndaquil flinch. Its fire attack, flamethrower, was totally successful, hitting Isaac, engulfing him in flame.

Isaac wasn't defeated, but it must have hurt like crazy. Lloyd stepped in and finished off Cyndaquil with a thunder shock.

Lloyd went over to the injured Piplup. "Are you hurt? How bad is it?"

"I think I'll be fine, the attack didn't burn me luckily." He opened up his bag and took out an oran berry, which he immediately ate. He closed his eyes for a second and exhaled deep. "Whew, much better."

"That's good, last thing I want is another friend to get hurt."

"You think of me as your friend? Huh, thanks man."

"What? Don't you have any friends in Pipton?"

"Not really, I have me, my father, and a bunch of other Piplup not worth making friends with. All they care about is food."

"Then why do you help them?"

"I don't know, I never really had any reason to leave. I figured nobody outside Glacier Mountains would accept me."

Lloyd thought for a minute, he got a great idea that would definitely help the both of them.

"Why don't you join our team? We need a third member anyways, your a pretty cool guy, your tough, smart..."

"Hmm... Let me think about it ok?"

"Yeah, no problem!"

---

Location: Celsius Cave, Basement 7

As Isaac had said, the amount of wild pokemon in each floor had grown each time they got deeper. The snow was completely gone now, the cave now a grey, smooth stone. Not even puddles of melted ice and snow remained, the entire room as nearby hallways were completely dry. Lastly, it was so hot, Lloyd and Isaac both had to take off their scarves, which Isaac stored inside his bag.

"Wow, this place looks completely different now." Said Lloyd.

"From what I've read, its common for mystery dungeons to look different part way through. Sometimes they are filled with pools of water in the deeper levels, sometimes they grow so dark you can't see more then a foot in front of you. Its best to always be prepared for any situation because of that."

"How far before we get to the last floor?"

"The next basement level is where the machine is. Since its such a small floor, most of it being behind a door to keep wild pokemon from messing with anything, our only worry down there is the three pokemon who came here."

"Well, lets go, we can't waist time. To many pokemon are waiting for us."

Isaac nodded. "Right."

With Lloyd in front, they went down the path of the nearest hallway like tunnel. At the end was a room, in it was some poke. Lloyd scooped it up and put it in the bag. Now empty, they left the room on route to the next.

This time, the room was completely empty, but on the ground there was a lot of disturbed dust, as if pokemon had recently been here.

"Well, lets not stick around." Said Lloyd. "Looks like pokemon could be nearby somewhere..."

"Yeah, but something doesn't feel right, be careful."

Cautiously, both made their way through the room. Looking around with every step for any hidden pokemon ready to ambush them. They stopped in the middle of the room.

"I guess I was wrong." Said Lloyd. "Nobodies here. This rooms empty after..."

"Oh, crud. Lloyd, we're in trouble."

Lloyd turned around and saw Isaac was looking straight up, when Lloyd copied him, he saw a bunch of pokemon clinging to the ceiling, eyes all on the two of them. A quick count told Lloyd that there was nine of them.

They dropped from the ceiling, all landing in places to block them from escaping. Both hallways had at least three guarding it, with the remaining three beside them.

"Oh no, what are we going to do Isaac? What's going on?"

"Its a monster house, when wild pokemon sense someone coming, they all hide in wait to ambush the intruders all at once. I don't know what to do, I'm sorry."

With angry looks in there eyes, the pokemon, several Magby, a Magmar, two Zubat and another Cyndaquil, all slowly approached Isaac and Lloyd.

"Lloyd, our only chance is to fight, if we be careful, we could do this. You ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Lets do this then!"

Lloyd looks around for the nearest target, one of the Magbys. He charged up and attacked it with a thunder shock, fainting it instantly. Isaac had targeted the lone Cyndaquil with a bubble, but missed and hit one of the Zubat. Luckily the attack knocked it out, so it was still successful of an attack.

The Magmar began to cough up a black smoke.

"What's it doing Isaac?"

"Smokescreen, don't breath it in and stay close to me, its trying to make it hard for us to hit them from a distance with our attacks."

Isaac and Lloyd both attacked one last time, each taking out a Magby, before the remaining pokemon disappeared into the smoke. Isaac and Lloyd were now fighting blind.

The wild pokemon, now reduced to five, walked silently towards them, to not give their position away. By the time either Lloyd or Isaac could see them, they were too close to hit with their usual attacks.

The first two that they could see was the last Zubat, coming for Lloyd, and another Magby, trying to sneak in beside Isaac.

Lloyd knew that he was bigger and heavier then the Zubat, so before he let it attack, he jumped on it, causing it to crash and get crushed beneath Lloyd. He finished it off with a downward aimed thunder shock.

Isaac's beak was glowing white, which meant he was using his peck attack. Magby swung at Isaac, but he dodged backwards, then leapt forward, hitting the Magby in the forehead with his beak.

Out of nowhere though, the last Magby came out and jumped on Isaac, pinning him to the ground. Lloyd quickly rushed over and smacked it across the face with his tail, momentarily stunned, Isaac rolled onto his back and shot a bubble at it right in the face, finishing it off.

Only Magmar remained, and with the smoke beginning to clear, victory was guaranteed. Isaac shot at it from a distance with his bubble attack, giving Lloyd the cover needed to get close. Magmar didn't notice Lloyd coming as it dodged bubble after bubble. With a sweep of his tail, Magmar was knocked over by Lloyd, and was finished off with a bubble and thunder shock combo.

With magmar defeated, the monster house had been conquered.

"Woohoo! Great job Isaac!"

"Man, that was great, you were great Lloyd. Man oh man..."

Isaac turned to Lloyd, his flipper raised in the air in triumph.

"After this, I've come to a conclusion. I am accepting your offer, I will join your team. This has been the most fun I've ever had in my entire life! The fact I'm helping so many is definite bonus."

"That's great to hear! Welcome to the team Isaac!" Lloyd copied Isaacs stance. "With you aboard, we can't be defeated! We are going to be the best team the Brotherhood has ever witnessed!"

With the last of the wild pokemon defeated, and a spring in their steps, they preceded to the final room, where the stairs were located. Only one last obstacle in their way to finally saving Rita and Pipton.


	12. Plan B

Chapter 12: Plan B

Location: Celsius Cave, Basement 8

The door to the room with the berry machine swung open, revealing an empty room full of machinery. The three pokemon Isaac spoke of weren't here.

"Looks like its safe after all." Said Lloyd.

Despite the coast being clear, Isaac still looked ready for battle. He must have thought something was wrong, that they were hiding in wait or something.

Lloyd, after all that's happened in his adventure so far, it was a good idea not to expect the best right away. So Lloyd didn't lower his guard either, readying to fight whatever might attack them.

Isaac and Lloyd stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by the machinery and nothing else. The roof was well lit, and nothing was there, there was no cupboards or closets for anything to hide in, and there wasn't any tables or other ledges to hide under, the room was completely empty except for him and Isaac.

"Looks safe after all, looks like you succeeded in your mission Lloyd."

"Our mission, you part of the team, and you helped us."

"But I'm the one who sent the mission to you, so that means... I have to give myself a reward?"

"Sure why not."

They laughed.

"Ok Lloyd, all we need to do is flip the machine back on. At the other end of the room is a switch, and at this end of the room there is a switch, at the same time as me, we have to flip the switches. Once we do that, the berry machine will start pumping the berry juice into the lake again."

"Sounds simple enough, I'll take the one at the far end."

They split up, each going to one of the two switches. The switch was a big red lever, it would take all of Lloyds weight to pull it down. He climbed up on the desk like surface above the switch, and got ready to jump down.

"You ready Lloyd?"

"Yup."

"On three... One, Two..."

But he couldn't finish, out of nowhere came some kind of attack, knocking them both to the ground. Out of the wall, like a ghost, walked a pokemon, it was a Prinplup. It had somehow managed to move right through the wall like it wasn't there, and it attacked him.

Isaacs attacker was more familiar, Gastly, along with Raticate, both also came out of the wall.

"Did you like our little trick? We certainly fooled you, didn't we?" Said the Prinplup.

"Who are you? Why are you doing this to the Piplup!?" Yelled Lloyd.

"Why? To lure you here of course. The Boss is willing to pay a pretty penny for you. So your names Lloyd huh?" He gave an exaggerated bow,"You can call me, Maverick." He looked at isaac. "Hmm, Is that you brother? How long has it been?"

"Brother? What are you talking about? Your not my brother!"

Isaac tried to stand up, but Raticate placed his foot on his back and pushed him back down.

"Let me tell you a story brother... Long ago, when I was just a little hatchling, fresh out of the egg, I was kidnaped by wild pokemon. Along the way to the peak of Glacier Mountain, they lost me, and I had wandered off. After days of wandering around, I found a house at the very top of Glacier Mountains, similar to the one you live in. There I found food, which kept me alive for weeks, and books, which I used to learn to read, among other things. When I gained the strength I needed to return, I did so, hoping to find my father in open arms, ready to welcome me back..."

"Where do I fit in this? Why..." Raticate shut him up with another push of his foot.

"I'm getting to that. I returned home and found, not sorrow, but joy. Father had replaced me with an orphaned Piplup, you."

"So he's not even my real father?"

"Not at all. You were just my replacement. Father forgot about me because of you. I didn't even bother showing myself, I returned to the house I found on top of the mountain, and focused on making myself strong. I wanted to be strong so that one day I could kill you and take back my place! The fact you came here along with Lloyd, instead of that other pokemon, is definitely a stroke of luck for me."

"So... My father isn't..."

"Your parents are dead, killed by the same wild pokemon that took me away."

"No... it can't be!"

"Oh, it is." He picked up Lloyd by the back of his neck and walked over to Isaac. "While I can never get my life back. I can still kill you for taking it away from me." He placed one of his feet on Isaacs neck and began to press down. "Good bye, brother!"

Lloyd acted fast, while Maverick was distracted, he slowly, as to not bring attention to himself, charged up electricity. At the last minute Maverick noticed and took his foot off of Isaac. Before he could stop Lloyd, Lloyd had unleashed the electric attack right into him, causing him to be momentarily stunned, and loosened his grip, letting Lloyd drop safely to the ground.

Lloyd picked up Isaac and rushed over to the other end of the room. He took three Oran berries from Isaacs bag, he ate one, and gave the other two to Isaac.

"Thanks Lloyd. Lets beat this guy to a pulp."

"No problem."

Maverick pointed to both of them. "Raticate, Gastly, GET THEM!" But before they could obey, both Lloyd and Isaac each launched an attack at the two of them. Neither Gastly or Raticate withstood the attack, and the both of them fainted. "Argh! Useless!"

Before letting Lloyd or Isaac get off another attack. Maverick charge the two of them, tackling the both of them, sending each to opposite sides of the room. He focused on Isaac and went after him.

"I'll kill you, I swear it!"

Mavericks wings glowed bright white at the tips, telling Isaac he was going to use Metal claw. The attack would be devastating if it hit. Rummaging in his bag, Isaac pulled out the evasion orb they picked up earlier in Celsius Cave. "Activate." he said. The orb obeyed the command and dissolved into a white light, the light piercing itself into Isaac. The orbs power was now in him.

"Take this!"

Maverick swung once at Isaac, but with unbelievable speed, jumped back just enough to avoid the blow. He swung again, this time higher, but Isaac dodged it again by ducking beneath it. Enraged further, Maverick raised his metal claw high above his head and brought it down hard. Isaac once again dodged the attack by rolling aside. Maverick tried to pull his wing out of the ground, but he had hit it so hard against the ground, the glowing wing had embedded in the smooth, grey floor.

Isaac took advantage of this and used a bubble attack point blank, right in Mavericks face. This only angered Maverick more, the rage giving him the strength to pull his wing out of the ground, sending grey stone debris in every direction.

Isaac wasn't done yet though, he leapt on Mavericks shoulder and repeatedly peaked him in the side of the head. Maverick did everything he could to get him off, but Isaac had dug his feat too deep into his shoulder.

"Isaac, get off quick!" It was Lloyd. Isaac looked and saw he was charging a powerful thunder bolt. Giving Maverick one last peck, he jumped far away from maverick. Coast clear, Lloyd unleashed the attack, aim perfect, finishing Maverick off enough that he couldn't fight no more.

Maverick, with his last bit of energy, crawled over to where Raticate and Gastly had fainted, and pulled out an orb.

"This isn't over you two. I'll hunt you down, you both will be mine! Activate!"

The orb turned out to be an escape orb, the light engulfed all three of them, and they disappeared.

"We gotta hurry, he isn't done yet. Lets activate the machine and use one of our own orbs to catch up with him."

Lloyd nodded and went over to the switch he was originally going to pull. Isaac did the same. Both ready to pull the lever down, Isaac began to count down.

"3.. 2... 1... NOW!"

At once, they both jumped, pulling their switches. It had worked, the machine instantly sprung to life, first making a "Chuff, chuff." sound, then a steady rumble. It was on.

Isaac went over to pipe hidden in a corner and turned a tiny wheel. Out of a spout poured the berry juice they needed for Rita. Isaac pulled a bottle out of his bag and put the juice in it, then turned the wheel again, stopping the flow of berry juice.

"Come here Lloyd, we got to hurry!"

"Right."

Lloyd got close to Isaac, one last rummage through the bag and Isaac pulled out one of the escape orbs. He muttered "Activate", like he did with the evasion orb, and the same light engulfed them. Lloyd closed his eyes, felt a tingle in his body, similar to the tingle he felt when he charged up an electric attack. The tingling stopped, when Lloyd opened his eyes, he found himself standing in the same spot he stood when he first gazed at the entrance of Celsius Cave. Isaac handed him back the scarf to protect him from the cold.

"Come on, lets go, we gotta hurry!"

"Yeah, lets catch those guys!"

Following the trail back to Pipton, Isaac and Lloyd ran, hoping that Raticate, Gastly and Maverick hadn't escaped.

---

Location: Isaacs House

Rita didn't feel so good when she woke up. Her body was stiff, and she felt a sharp pain in her side.

"Whoa, what's happened..." She yawned.

Crawling out of the covers, she unsteadily dropped to the ground, which she regretted immediately. As soon as she landed on her feet, it felt like a fire had suddenly burned her. She looked at her side and noticed the blood stained bandages, she then remembered what happened, she was attacked, hurt badly, then she lost consciousness.

She didn't see any signs of Lloyd anywhere, she looked around the house she was in but didn't see anyone.

Feeling another sharp pain in her side, she decided to go outside to heal it. She had known a move taught to her a long time ago she hoped never needing to use, synthesis.

Opening the door, she say the sun barely poking over the Mountain. _This is gonna take a while then._ She thought.

She walked out in the back of the house, where she found a small rock poking out of the ground at a weird angle, that acted as an umbrella, making the ground below it free of any snow. And thanks to the angle of the sun, the rock didn't cast a shadow to block out the sun. Perfect spot to heal.

She took off the bandages and threw them aside, then laid down, the cut facing the sun, and went back to sleep. It would only take about an hour and she would be right as rain again.

---

Location: Pipton

Lloyd and Isaac had ran the entire distance to Pipton lake. None of the three pokemon who attacked them in sight. Both Lloyd and Isaac were afraid they had lost them.

Isaac stopped suddenly, looking to the lake. Lloyd stopped as well, trying to coax Isaac to continue running.

"Isaac! Why did you stop? We gotta go!"

"Look Lloyd, the fish are back."

Lloyd didn't notice it at first, but when he looked, he knew Isaac was right. Piplup were diving into the water and fish were jumping out of the water all over the lake. Isaac and Lloyd got closer and they saw orange blurs just below the lakes surface. The fish turned out to be Magikarp, and there was hundreds, if not thousands, of them in the lake.

Nearly every single Piplup was going back and forth from the lake, catching itself a Magikarp, then eating it or feeding it to a baby, then jumping back in for another. The once inactive lakeside was now full of activity.

"Looks like its mission accomplished." Said Lloyd.

"Not yet." He reminded. "We still have to get to Rita and heal her with the juice I collected."

"I know, and we gotta hurry too, who knows what her condition is."

Lloyd led the way down the trail to Isaacs house, soon Rita would be healed and their teams first mission would be complete.

---

Location: Isaacs House

"Is this the one Maverick?" Asked Gastly.

"Yep, this is his house. Burn it to the ground boys."

Raticate and Gastly obeyed, grabbing some oil soaked torches, lighting them, and throwing them through windows. It wasn't long before the stuff inside stated to catch fire.

"Should take about five minutes Maverick, and the whole thing will burn to the ground." Said Raticate.

"Hmm, good. Lets get out of here then."

Raticate and Gastly went up ahead. Before joining them, Maverick grabbed a nearby pole and placed it in the ground. On the pole he nail on a short note. With the note in place, waiting for Isaac and Lloyd to read it, Maverick left the burning house to catch up with Gastly and Raticate.

---

Isaac and Lloyd finally could see the house, but they didn't expect what was happening to it. The entire building was on fire.

"Oh no, Dad!"

"Rita!"

They raced to the house. Isaac charged though the door, breaking it down. Lloyd went to the room where Rita was, avoiding the fire as best he could. Isaac did the same, but went to his dads room.

Lloyd expected one of two things, first, that she would be safe in bed, ready to be rescued by him. And the much worse second possibility, that the fire had already gotten to her. Instead, she wasn't in the room at all, her bed sheets thrown aside, with no signs of here inside at all.

_Where could she be? Did they take her away with them?_

"Hey Lloyd! I need your help!"

He left immediately, knowing standing around wouldn't help anything. He followed Isaacs voice and found him trying to pull his dad to safety.

"He's unconscious, but I can't move him, come here and help."

Lloyd nodded and went over, both grabbed one of the Empoleons massive wings, and pulled. Both using all the strength they had, the Empoleon slowly got dragged outside.

On the way Isaac asked Lloyd, "Where's Rita? She's not..."

"I don't know, she wasn't in your bed. She's gone."

"Don't worry, I'm sure she's ok. Now pull!"

The Empoleon was finally outside, laying in the snow. From what Lloyd could tell, Isaacs father was injured from the fire, small burns all over its body.

"I'll be fine Lloyd." Said Isaac. "Look around here for Rita. She might still be nearby."

Lloyd looked out front, then went out back. At first he didn't see her anywhere, but, just barely, he noticed something green underneath a rock about twenty feet from the house.

Lloyd went over, and saw that her bandages were gone. Not only the bandages, but also the cut, the cut was completely healed. "Rita!? Wake up!" He gently shook her.

For a second, she didn't move or make any sounds. Lloyd shock her again, this time she moved a little, then yawned. She was ok.

"Five more minutes..."

"Rita wake up! Wake up!"

"Lloyd? Ok, ok..."

She got up. Yawned again, and noticed the house was burning.

"Whoa what's going on?"

"Long story, come on, we gotta check on Isaac and his father."

Not bothering to ask who the heck Isaac was, she followed after him to the front of the house. But, as if remembering something, Lloyd stopped. Rita stopped as well.

"What's wrong Lloyd?"

He turned around and gave her a big hug.

"I'm so glad your ok... I'm sorry, its my fault you got hurt. I told you to go alone after that Sneasel."

Rita squirmed out of his grasp. "Yeah, don't worry about. I'm ok."

"How did you heal yourself anyways?"

Suddenly Rita started to glow slightly, not as bright as if she was evolving, it was more like she was absorbing something.

"It's a move called Synthesis, as long as its sunny, like right now, I can heal pretty much any cuts or bumps."

"Wow, that's amazing." He began to run out front again. "Lets hurry Rita, Isaac might need help again."

Rita frowned. _I'm out for one day, and the whole world goes nuts._ Rita ran after Lloyd to the front of the house.

---

"Come on dad, wake up... please!" Isaac couldn't do anything to help his father, all their medical supplies were inside the now blazing inferno of a house. All he could do is stand next to him, hoping he'd wake up.

Just then, Lloyd, along with his friend Rita, came around from the back of the house.

"Isaac! Rita's fine! She used Synthesis to heal herself."

_This is perfect._ Thought Isaac. He pulled out the vial of berry juice out of his bag, popped it open and went over to his dad. He opened up his fathers beak and poured the fluid in his mouth, rubbing his throat so that he would swallow it.

Lloyd and Rita joined Isaacs side, all watching the Empoleon for any sign of movement.

"Please dad..." Isaac whispered. "Wake up..."

Isaacs father, the mayor, finally woke up. Coughing violently for a second, then stopped, and opened his eyes.

"Isaac... Is that you?"

"Yeah, its me." Isaac went over and hugged his dad. "Some guys tried to burn the house down. But me and my new friend Lloyd saved you with some of the berry juice from the machine in Celsius Cave. We also turned the machine back on, so the fish are back."

Behind Isaac, Rita whispered into Lloyds ear.

"You did the whole mission without me?"

"Um... Sorry?"

Isaacs father stood up. "You did a good job my son. I'm proud of you, you saved everyone, and made friends in the process. I couldn't be more..."

But the Mayor didn't finish his statement. Instead he began to cough again, much more violently.

"Dad? Dad! What's wrong?!"

His father couldn't respond though, he kept coughing and coughing.

"Dad! Please! What's wrong!?"

Still coughing, the Empoleon got on one knee, then on all fours. He stopped coughing, but now sounded like he was struggling to breath.

"Dad! What's wrong?!"

Isaac, Rita and Lloyd could only stand there as everything happened. The empoleon gave one last, rough sounding gasp. "Son... I..." He couldn't finish, he fell, face first, into the snow. He wasn't breathing anymore. Isaacs father, the Mayor of Pipton, was dead.

"Daaaaaaaaaad!"

For the first time, Lloyd noticed a note attached to a stick in the ground. _It must be from those three..._ He thought. He went over and grabbed the note.

"Isaac, Rita, I found something."

Rita and Isaac turned. Isaac looked like he was about to cry.

Lloyd read the note aloud. "Brother, if there is one thing you should know about me, is that I ALWAYS have a backup plan. By the time you read this, every pokemon at Pipton lake will be infected with a special poison the Boss sent me. If they haven't already, every pokemon that had been in or drank any of the berry juice will stop breathing, and painfully die. Consider this revenge for the life you stole from me. Maverick..."

"No..." Isaac began to cry. "No, no, no, no, NO!"

Not waiting for Lloyd or Rita, Isaac ran as fast as he could to Pipton Lake. Lloyd and Rita chased after him.

---

Location: Lake Pipton

What Maverick wrote was true. As soon as the lake came into view, the three of them saw every single Piplup on the ground, coughing, trying desperately to breath, just as Isaacs father had not long ago.

Isaac continued to run towards the lake, Lloyd and Rita following him, but by the time they got there, every single Piplup was laying in the snow, dead.

Isaac dropped to the ground and wept, unable to say anything Rita or Lloyd could understand.

"This is horrible..." Said Lloyd.

"Who could do such a thing?"

Isaac finished crying, instead he was breathing heavily, his voice full of rage. "Who? The pokemon I'm going to track down... and when I find him... Arggghh!"

Isaac didn't finish, he just hit the ground as hard as he could, and was silent.

"We gotta go" Said Lloyd. "The Brotherhood needs to know about this right away."

In a state of shock, Isaac followed Lloyd quietly. Rita followed as well.

Isaac said one last thing to himself. "When I find him, I'll kill him. Like he killed my father, and everyone I've ever known, I'll kill him."


	13. Finally Official

For the next few days, this will be my FF routine

Revise 2 Old Chapters

Submit 1 New Chapter

Rinse and repeat until every chapter has been revised

Probably not going do much on the story over my Christmas break, but I'll try to get at least a few chapters done, as well as finish the revisions.

---

Chapter 13: Finally Official

Without the blizzard or being lost getting in their way, it wasn't long before the three pokemon successfully made the trip to the Brotherhood headquarters. Nobody said a thing since coming out of Glacier Tunnel, everybody had to much on their mind, to much to think about, this being especially true for Isaac, the newest member of the team.

Waiting for them at the gates of the HQ was Ewan, looking happy, probably thought the mission was a success. It wasn't long before he could see their disappointed faces and knew things didn't go well.

"Oh dear... What happened? Did you fail your mission?"

Nobody felt like talking, after a moments silence, it was Lloyd who finally decided to talk.

"No... We helped the town, did exactly what we were sent to do. But the villains who endangered the city in the first place put a poison in their food supply somehow, and now the entire city is..."

Lloyd couldn't finish, but Ewan easily figured out what came next.

"The entire town was killed. I see... Don't worry, we'll send out some teams to bury the dead and investigate. We'll do everything we can to catch the villains responsible." Trying to change the subject, Ewan pointed at Isaac. "So, who's your friend?"

"My name is Isaac sir, I was the one who sent the request to the brotherhood. Some stuff happened, and Rita was unable to continue the mission, so I went with Lloyd the rest of the way. He asked me to join his team later, and I accepted."

"Well, its good to see some good come from this." Ewan said, trying to sound as cheerful as he could. "Welcome to the Brotherhood Isaac."

"Thanks."

"You three should get something to eat in the cafeteria, and after words, go down to the mail room and have the Buneary register your new team mate. Speaking of which, have you thought of a name yet? I noticed you left that part blank."

"Not yet." Said Lloyd.

"Me neither," Said Rita. "Naming a team is harder then naming a pokemon."

"Don't worry you two... er, three, I'm sure you'll figure something out soon enough, now scoot."

They began to leave, but half way to the elevator, Ewan stopped them again.

"Oh, don't forget to check your mailbox while you in the mail room too. I picked another mission for you."

"What?" Said Rita. "I thought you were only gonna pick our first mission?"

"Nope, sorry. You guys are still learning, we don't need you guys going on a tough mission and end up getting smashed by a Nidoking or something. See you later!"

---

Location: Unknown

"Boss, Boss! Its me, Maverick!"

"What is it? Did you capture the targets?"

"Unfortunately no, they proved too strong, and we had to leave. But I made sure not to leave without doing at least one thing."

"What do you mean?"

"That poison you provided for me, I put it in the machine that baits Pipton's food supply. As soon as they turned the machine on and the Piplup began eating, they all got infected and died moments later. The entire town is dead."

"Hmm, I'm rather impressed, while you did fail to capture the target, you show yourself to have no morals, I need men like you."

"Why thank you sir, I can assure you I enjoyed it just as much."

"I'm sending you the directions you need to get to our base. You will stay here until your services are required again."

"Thank you kindly, you are very generous..."

"Just remember, don't make failure a regular thing, otherwise I will have to kill you myself. Do you understand."

"Clear as can be. Next time, I'll have that pokemon for you, and the others, especially that little rat Isaac, will be dead."

"Good."

The Boss hung up.

---

Location: Brotherhood HQ

Like the journey back, nobody said anything during dinner, everyone quietly ate, keeping to themselves. When everyone finished eating, they all went to the mail room, inside was the same frantic Buneary from before.

"Hello everyone! Please don't mess up any papers on my desk, spent all day organizing them and... Never mind you'd never do that anyways. So you're here for your next mission right?"

"Yeah." Said Lloyd. "And were here to..."

"Well its in your little cubby hole already!" She interrupted. "Put it there myself, like I do with every bit of mail, because that's my job, to give everyone there mail... What was I supposed to do again? Ahhhh!"

Frustrated about something, the Buneary went into the back room. A moment later a crashing noise came from the room, then nothing at all.

"What's with her?" Asked Rita, to nobody in particular.

"Who knows." Said Lloyd. "Lets just worry about what we came here for."

Lloyd went to the mail box, inside was a single letter. Lloyd immediately opened it, and began to read.

_**Dear Brotherhood**_

_**You might recognise my name from the radio, I am Kane, host of PNR! As some of you may have noticed, my station had been off the air for quite some time. My fans are dying on the inside, I here them cry out for me!**_

_**Please send help asap, the reward for the mission is a cool 3000 poke.**_

_**Hope to see someone soon, I'll be waiting!**_

_**The Great Kane, Host of PNR**_

"So Lloyd, what's the mission?" Asked Rita.

"Some guy needs our help fixing his radio station... Some guy calling himself 'Kane'."

"OH, MY, GAWD!" As soon as Kane was mentioned, Rita perked right up, excitement visibly filling her up rapidly. "You have to be kidding me! This is great!"

"Why? Who's Kane? And what's PNR?"

Since Rita had stopped listening, overly excited in hearing about their mission, Isaac decided to explain.

"PNR stands for Pokemon News Radio. Its the most popular radio station in the entire Wasteland. Its host is Kane, an Arcanine, and a total celebrity. Girls from all over drool over him and his deep voice."

"Not just his voice!" Said Rita. "But he's totally awesome, and drop dead gorgeous! And, and..." She ran out of breath from talking so fast and was breathing heavily.

Isaac finished her sentence. "In other words, he's a total celebrity."

Lloyd laughed softly to himself. "Yeah, I figured."

Unexpectedly, another voiced yelled to him from behind the cubbies, startling Lloyd. It was the Buneary.

"You guys have more mail! Here it is!"

The letter inside the hole was strange, it was jet black, and was bulging slightly, as if it had something in it. Lloyd picked it up and saw it was addressed to Isaac.

"Its for you Isaac, doesn't say who from though."

Isaac opened it, inside was a short note and a red strip of cloth.

_**Hello Brother, nice to know your still alive.**_

_**Now you know how it feels to lose everything, to have everything taken away right before your eyes.**_

_**Inside you'll find a little token to commemorate, this used to belong to me when I was a child, and was the only thing I had on me when I was taken away from my home and my life. Your experience is now complete, you have become me.**_

_**I'll be leaving you three alone for now, but I promise you, I will come for your little club again soon, and when I do, I'll finish the job.**_

_**Don't go dying yet, I wouldn't want to miss out.**_

_**Much love, Maverick**_

Isaac couldn't believe it, Maverick was taunting him. After everything that had happened, Maverick was actually taunting him. If he was here right now, Isaac would have ripped him limb from limb.

Lloyd and Rita saw Isaac's face, scrunched up in anger, and knew something was wrong. "What is it Isaac?" Asked Rita.

Isaac crumpled up Mavericks letter and threw it in a nearby trash bin, he was about to do the same with the cloth but thought against it. He just held it near himself and stared at it, he realized that this little red cloth was the last thing that belonged to his father.

"Its nothing, forget about it."

"Listen... Isaac..." Lloyd put his paws on both of Isaacs shoulders, to comfort him. "What happened down there, in Pipton, none of it was your fault."

Isaac wanted to argue. _It was my fault._ He thought._ I let Maverick get away, I activated the machine that poisoned everybody, I gave my father the poison myself..._

"Isaac, the one who did this was Maverick, plain and simple. You fought bravely to help your town, as well as Rita. You battled along side me all the way through Celsius Cave. You fought with me against Maverick and his men, despite being overpowered and outnumbered. Your not some coward like Maverick..."

"Lloyd, please stop..."

"No Isaac! You need to hear this! You aren't like Maverick, you are brave... You are heroic... Your... What was that word you used in Celsius Cave?"

Isaac thought back, he remembered it clearly. Hesitantly he said it aloud.

"Valiant."

"Yeah, that's right. You are a valiant pokemon Isaac, you've proven that."

At first, Isaac planned to dismiss everything he had said, but Isaac realized he was right, it wasn't his fault. Isaac and Maverick were not brothers, he was nothing like him, and he would never be.

"Lloyd... Thank you."

Lloyd let go of his shoulders. Isaac remembered the strip of red cloth, he took it, untangled it, and wrapped it around his forehead. The red cloth would be a symbol, to remind him not to become like his 'brother'. Isaac was going to help the world, he was going to do everything in his power to stop people like Maverick.

"Lloyd, Ewan mention that your team didn't have a name, correct?

The sudden change in subject took Lloyd off guard. "Um, yeah, why?"

"Because, I think I just thought of a name."

Both Rita and Lloyd listened closely. "Yeah?" They both said.

"Team Valiant."

As soon as they heard the name, Rita and Lloyd both knew it was perfect. It was as if the name was made for them, no other name would sound right to them after today.

"It's perfect Isaac." Said Lloyd.

"Yeah!" Said Rita. "Your really smart!"

"Haha, thanks guys."

"Soooo..." Began Rita. "Now what? We still have a few hours before bed."

Lloyd remembered something from a while ago. "We still have to go to that database thing and find out what pokemon I am, remember?"

"Oh yeah, I guess all the Brotherhood stuff kinda distracted me."

"Well, you guys can go, "Said Isaac "I'm gonna go relax in that pool for a while. See you two later."

"See you later Isaac." Said Lloyd. Isaac left right away.

Rita and Lloyd didn't know where to find the database though, Ewan never showed them on their tour of the HQ.

"You guys know where the database is? Huh?"

Once again scaring Lloyd, and this time, Rita as well, was the Buneary, speaking through their cubby hole.

"Stop doing that!" Yelled Lloyd, I bit louder then he expected. "And yes we are, where is it?"

"Back here actually, aren't you lucky? Just wait, no, come back here. Oh, I locked the door didn't I? Umm..."

The door to the back room was wide open, obviously not locked.

"Ok, come here, don't knock over anything please."

Before either Rita or Lloyd could say anything, the Buneary disappeared as suddenly as she had appeared.

"Yeah, lucky us." Said Rita.

---

Location: Somewhere below the Brotherhood HQ

The Buneary must have gone ahead of them, as they hadn't seen it at all so far. The backroom of the mail room was a complete mess, stacks of papers piled up higher then both Rita and Lloyd, filing cabinets over filled, and desks buried in paperwork. Not much light in the back room either, the only light came though the cubby holes from the mail room, barely enough to be able to see in.

The only place left to go was down, a cramped staircase in the deepest part of the back room went down, the bottom not visible in the shadow.

"After you." Said Rita.

"Ladies first." Lloyd didn't want to go down any more then she did.

"What? Changed your mind about finding out what pokemon you are? Ok, whatever you want..."

"Fine, fine, I'll go first."

_Gonna be hard to do if I can't see._ Thought Lloyd. _Maybe I can use my electricity to light this stairway up._

Lloyd held out his hand, an inch away from the cold, stone walls. He charged up a bit of electricity, and slowly let it loose into the wall. Lloyd's hand produced a small, blue spark that went directly into the wall. The light it gave off was not very bright, but it was good enough to see with. Still producing the little blue spark as he went, he began to descend downwards, Rita following close behind.

They silently stepped downwards further and further, the light from the mail room no longer visible, only Lloyds blue spark provided any light at all. After what felt like forever, a different light could finally be seen at the bottom of the steps, it was faint, orange and flickered every few seconds, it was the light from a candle.

The room at the bottom of the stairs reminded them much of the backroom where the stairs began. Their was papers stacked to unbelievable heights, these ones having collected a ton of dust, obviously much of these papers have been untouched for a long time. Buneary waited for them in the middle of the room, holding the candle that they predicted was illuminating the room.

"Come here, the database is right over here." She walked away, not waiting for them, around a wall of paper stacks that had fashioned a kind of wall. Rita and Lloyd followed her around the corner.

The Buneary didn't go far, she stopped in front of some kind of device, sitting on top of the table. It looked like a TV of some kind.

"What is that?" Asked Rita.

"Its a computer, an old device the humans used a lot. Its where all our information goes, it was found here a long time ago, way back when the Brotherhood first started. It already had a ton of stuff on it, and we've been adding stuff, lots of stuff, and by us I mean me, since its my job, my other job." Buneary was beginning to trail off, but then she regained focus. "Just use the mouse to select a category, then look around for the info you need. Pretty simple."

The Buneary started to leave, but Rita stopped her on her way by. "Wait, your leaving us here?"

"I have work to do, lots of work, mail to sort, papers to sort. Just come back up when your done, or stay here..." She trailed off again, and began to head up the long staircase.

"Man she's weird." Said Rita.

"You probably would be a little too if you did what she does every day." He said, looking at the mountain of paper that surrounded them. "Now lets check out this computer."

Lloyd sat in a chair next to the desk. He grabbed the mouse and moved it around, and figured out how it worked quickly. He read the categories to himself, but couldn't find any that sounded helpful. He clicked on a button labelled 'search' at the very top. The screen changed to just a black screen with a white bar in the middle. Below the bar it said, 'Please type the name of your search.'

"Type?" Said Rita. "What does it mean type?"

Lloyd looked around the desk, looking for something that might help. Other then papers, the only thing he found was a black rectangular thing covered in little buttons, each with a letter on it. He pushed a button, and on the bar appeared the same letter of the button he pushed. Lloyd typed out 'pokemon' and pushed the 'confirm' button on the far right side of the device.

The screen once again changed, listing all categories with the word 'pokemon' in it. The one that sounded helpful was near the very top, called 'Species of Pokemon'

Lloyd pushed that one, making the screen change again to another one, again with a bar. Below the bar this time it said 'Please state the name, type or serial number of the pokemon'

Not knowing the other two things, Lloyd just typed 'Electric' and pressed confirm.

Another screen, this one listing dozens of names, each with a number beside it, all organized by their numbers.

_Nothing to do but go one by one down the list._

First option, '#25 Pikachu', Lloyd clicked on it.

With luck Lloyd never imagined, he saw his picture pop right up. He had picked his pokemon on the first try.

"Wow, that was pretty lucky Lloyd."

"Yeah."

Below the picture was information on the pokemon.

_**Name: Pikachu**_

_**Pre-evolution: Pichu**_

_**Evolution: Raichu, via Thunder Stone**_

_**Type: Electric**_

_**Habitat: Forest regions**_

_**Basic Information: An electric mouse pokemon, it stores electricity in pouches located in its cheeks. The pokemon, as well as its evolution and pre-evolution, have been extinct for an estimated 3000 years.**_

_**Information Last Updated: 2174 years, 7 Months, 27 Days, 3 Hours**_

_**Print Out Information?**_

"Am I reading that right?" Asked Rita. "Your species has been extinct for over five thousand years?!"

Lloyd couldn't believe it himself. If the computer was really accurate, his entire species of pokemon hasn't been seen in five thousand years. "It can't be..." Said Lloyd. "How...?"

"Whata that mean at the bottom? Print Information."

Lloyd didn't know either, he decided to click it and see. When he did, another nearby device sprang to life, made a lot of noise, then produced a single page of paper. On the paper was all the stuff he just saw on the screen, as well as the picture at the top.

"That's pretty useful. Now what?"

"I can't think of anything else to look up right now. We should go to bed, its getting late."

"Sounds good... Pikachu."

"Please, Rita, Lloyds fine. Its more familiar to me then that."

"I know, just playin', I wouldn't wanna be called Chikorita all the time."

They left the computer alone, took the papers that had all the information on them, and left the giant, dark room, going back up the long dark stairs.

---

Location: Brotherhood HQ, Room 160

Isaac had already returned, he was asleep in the bed farthest from the door, snoring slightly. Rita went straight to bed, said "Good Night", and quickly went to sleep.

Lloyd went to his bed and did the same. But before he fell asleep, he heard a voice, one he heard two nights ago in this exact same bed.

"You mustn't fail this time. Kill everyone... find the... capture. Kill the oth..."

Lloyd couldn't comprehend what the voice was saying, as he immediately lost consciousness as soon as the voice stopped.


	14. Searching

Disregard what I said in the last chapter, I have too many ideas right now, and the likely hood of me doing much over the holidays is slim (especially since I'm getting Fallout 3 for Christmas.) So all revisions are delayed until mid-January**.**

It's all good though, because this chapter is my personal favourite so far, I hope you guys like it as well.

By the way, **"This" **= Flashback

Chapter 14: Searching

_Ugh, my head..._

"Where is it? Where did it go?"

_Huh? Is something going on?_

"Over there, get it before it escapes!"

_Hey guys stop! I'm part of the brotherhood too!_

"That's the same beast that killed all those pokemon!"

_No, I couldn't have, it wasn't me._

"Oh no, its getting away!"

"Everyone, after it!"

---

Location: Room 160

Lloyd awoke, startled by the dream. He found himself lying on the floor, his bed covers trailing behind him, evidence he had fallen out of bed sometime during the night.

_Was it a dream?_ Thought Lloyd. _Everything felt so real..._

Rita and Isaac were still asleep, Rita not making any noise, Isaac making a lot of noise from snoring, much louder then when he first went to sleep. Lloyd couldn't believe such a small pokemon could snore so loudly.

Lloyd decided to not wake them, and instead bring them some breakfast, much like Rita had done before the first mission for him. It was only fair to pay back her generosity.

He opened the door to the hallway and expected the usual bustling crowd of pokemon, all on their way to go somewhere, but this morning the hallways were empty, with not a single pokemon in sight.

He didn't see any pokemon at all until he got a few steps down the hallway, when a pokemon called to him from behind, a marshtomp, it was Ewan.

"Lloyd! Wait a sec!"

Lloyd stopped walking, Ewan ran the whole way down the hall to him, breathing heavily.

"You need to go back to your room, something very bad is going on."

"What is it Ewan?"

"That pokemon from the other day, the one that killed all those pokemon, its back, and its inside the building right now!"

"Your kidding, what are we gonna do?"

"We have the best teams doing a search, everyone else is required to stay in their rooms. Now go!"

Lloyd didn't argue any more, he went straight back to his room.

"**That's the same beast that killed all those pokemon."**

_What's going on? Why is this pokemon doing all these awful things... And why am I dreaming about it?_

Lloyd got back to his room, but something was strange, the room was somehow different then when he left. Rita was still in bed, and so was...

Isaac wasn't there, he was gone.

Lloyd wasn't sure what to do, Isaac must have left right after he did. Lloyd went right to Rita and shook her awake.

"Rita wake up! Something bad's happening!"

"Ugghhh, Lloyd what the heck are you going on about this early in the morning?"

"That pokemon from two days ago, the one that killed all those pokemon, its back, and Isaac is missing."

"Great..." She sluggishly got out of bed and yawned loud and deep. "So what are we going to do, go look for him?"

"No, we aren't allowed to leave the rooms, we'll just tell someone who's on lookout and they'll find him for us..."

"Lloyd, they probably have enough on their hands with killer pokemon on the loose, and Isaac is our friend, I don't want to have been in here sitting on our butts while hes out getting torn to shreds."

Lloyd was torn between obeying Ewan's command to stay, and Rita's demand to go searching for Isaac.

"Umm, yeah, your right Rita. They are busy enough looking for that pokemon, lets find him ourselves."

Lloyd opened the door, checked the hallway to see if it was clear, then went out of their room, Rita following behind.

"Where should we look?" Asked Rita.

"Lets focus on the places he's been first. That would be... the cafeteria, the pool, and the mail room."

"Sounds good, you go first."

---

Location: The Mail Room

_No, this is silly, what will I say? What could I possibly say?_ Isaac was pacing back and forth inside the Mail Room, thinking to himself. _This is stupid, this is stupid, THIS IS STUPID!_

Isaac hadn't been able to think of anything else since coming here yesterday, he spent the entire time at the pool swimming slowly along the bottom, his mind elsewhere.

"Excuse me?"

Someone called to Isaac from the door of the mail room, it was someone he'd never met before, a Swellow.

"Are you aware of the situation here Piplup? The entire building is on lockdown and everyone except the teams sent to investigate the building are to stay in their rooms."

Isaac was embarrassed, he was pacing back and forth alone, not paying attention at all, not even aware of what was going on.

"I was... Umm... Waiting for someone." He didn't mean it to sound as such, but the last part came out sounding like a question.

The Swellow looked at him, staring at him, thunking over what Isaac had just said.

"Fine then, go and get who you were waiting for and come back then, and please hurry up."

"Umm, but..." Isaac was trapped now, he had no choice but to confront the problem.

"Hurry up I said, I have better things to do."

Isaac didn't argue with the Swellow further, he went into the back room and searched for the pokemon he was looking for, the pokemon he had been thinking of since first laying his eyes on her, the mail room Buneary.

---

Lloyd and Rita went around the corner to the mail room, but Lloyd retreated, pulling Rita back. He, at the last moment, spotted one of the pokemon conducting the search, a Swellow.

"Now what?" Asked Lloyd.

They already checked the pool, which had been emptied for cleaning sometime during the night. After that they checked the cafeteria, which was completely empty, all the chairs placed upside down on the tables.

The only place Isaac has been that they could check was here, in the mail room. Why he would be here, neither Lloyd or Rita could guess, but it was their only other lead.

"I think I have an idea Lloyd, wait here."

Before he could stop her, she walked around the corner and was spotted by the Swellow.

"Hey! All pokemon are to report to their rooms, the whole building is on lock..."

"Please help me!" She said, altering her voice to sound like a typical damsel in distress. Lloyd wasn't buying it, but it seemed Swellow didn't notice. "Some evil, giant pokemon came and tried to eat me! It went upstairs just a second ago, if you hurry you can catch it!"

"Oh, well, thanks for reporting that for me, now hurry back to your room." Swellow took off into the air, flying straight through the hallway, passing Lloyd without noticing him.

Lloyd went over and joined Rita, impressed by her acting. "Great job, you've done this before haven't you?"

"Hundreds of times, guys are so easy to manipulate."

"... Hey!"

---

Isaac stepped down the long stair case, not knowing whether he wanted to find the Buneary or not.

_Its why I came here... But I'm so embarrassed... How can I possibly tell her?_

Isaac had never felt the feeling before, at least not for a girl, and the exact same feeling. But he could tell the second he saw the Buneary in the mail room. Isaac knew the feeling inside him, it was love. He loved the Buneary, despite not knowing her, not even talking to her, not knowing she existed before he saw her.

_I'm not going to tell her._ He thought. _I'm just gonna wait, hang out with her for awhile then ask her. Yeah, that's a good idea._

Whether or not he wanted to speak to her now, he had no choice, he just had to hope he didn't screw up and say the wrong thing, make her not like him.

_Oh man, oh man, oh man..._

Isaac made it down the long steps, the only light came from what he figured to be a candle, hidden behind the many stacks of papers, she was indeed down here.

_Oh man, I can't do this, I'll just go back and tell that Swellow she wasn't here and..._

"Hello? Is someone there?

At that exact moment, as soon as the Buneary has spoken, called out to him, Isaacs brain shut right down, not a single thought crossed his mind.

She cautiously walked over to investigate, peaking around a stack of papers to get a look at him.

"Oh, I remember you."

_She remembers me!_ He thought to himself, his brain suddenly working again.

"How can I help you?"

_What am I going to say? Oh man..._

"Uhhh, what's up?"

Isaac wanted to get on the ground and pound his head into the floor. _What's up? WHATS UP! That's the best I can think of?!_

"Nothing I guess. Is that why you came? To ask me what's up?"

"Ummmm... No. I just..."

_Ask her name stupid, ask her now!_

"When we met in the mail room... I didn't get your name, I wanted to properly introduce myself."

_Good Isaac, good! Keep it up!_

"That's sweet of you. My name is Jennifer, but my friends... Well, I don't have any friends... I just call myself Jen. What's your name?

_Jennifer! What a beautiful name! ... What was my name again?_

"My name is... Jennifer... No... That's your name."

She stared at him, not at all phased by the weird stuff he was saying.

"My name is Isaac, its nice to meet you... Jen."

Nobody said anything, to Isaac it felt like an eternity, but in actuality, it was about four seconds.

"Is that all Isaac? Just my name?"

_What else can I ask her? Should I just go right for it and ask if she wants to hang out sometime? I don't want to look like a fool, not so soon..._

"I was wondering if later... you would... want... to..."

"...to?"

_SAY IT YOU MORON!_

"I wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out later, maybe tonight after my team goes on our mission?"

_Please say yes, please say yes, please say..._

"Sure I guess. Perhaps we could see a movie, I was going to go anyways."

"Uh, yeah, sounds great. I'll come here after I get back."

_Good boy, now turn around and run like hell._

He said good bye, then turned tail and fled back up the stairs, fleeing from her as if she had just transformed into a giant, Piplup eating demon.

---

Like their room, the pool, and the cafeteria, the mail room was completely void of any pokemon, including Isaac.

"Maybe he went downstairs?" Suggested Rita.

"Why on earth would he go down there?"

She just shrugged. "Looking for a bathroom maybe?"

Lloyd lowered his head and placed his hand on his forehead. "Rita, this is serious, that pokemon could be anywhere in this place."

"I know, I know, chill. I'm sure Isaacs perfectly fine."

"Well, lets find out for ourselves that he's fine, ok?"

"Yeah, yeah..."

Up the stairs came the very pokemon they were looking for, Isaac had run up the stairs at full speed, almost tripping on the last step. He stood their with an awkward look on his face.

"Hey guys, hows it going?"

"Hows it going?" Said Rita. "We've been looking everywhere for you, where have you been?"

"Umm, checking something on the database computer... Yeah, I thought I would investigate some things about... stuff."

"Uh huh, right." Said Lloyd. "It doesn't matter anymore, lets just go, we'll be in a lot of trouble if we get spotted."

"Yeah, I remember, that Swellow told me to go back to my room. What's going on?"

"There is a pokemon in the headquarters." Said Lloyd "Two days ago it killed dozens of pokemon, and destroyed a bunch of buildings. When I woke up this morning, Ewan told me it was spotted here somewhere!"

"Oh, well that's not good."

"Understatement of the year." Said Rita. "Now lets go, that Swellow will probably come back soon."

---

Location: Room 160

It was little after noon, all three of them had successfully gotten back to their room without being spotted.

Isaac wasn't saying anything, but something was definitely different then before, on the way back from Pipton. It almost felt like Isaac was hiding something, refusing to speak in case what he was hiding slipped out.

Rita on the other hand couldn't stop talking, after getting back to the room, she was suddenly reminded where they were going, and she had not stopped talking about that radio guy, Kane.

"He is sooooo gorgeous, if I had a man like that I would be happy my entire life. Did I mention he was rich too? He has millions of poke, all from his days as an adventurer, isn't that awesome? Not to mention he has his own radio show, not many people in the wasteland can say that truthfully huh? Do you think maybe I could get a date with him? Oh, I'm gonna ask him when we've done, maybe we can get that instead of the poke as a reward! The five thousand would be chump change after we got married... Did I mention he was rich?"

Isaac wasn't listening at all, staring out into space. Lloyd wished he was that lucky, even with a pillow over his head he could clearly hear every word that came out of Rita's mouth.

"Rita, that's the eighth time you said he was rich, the twelfth time you said he was good looking, and the third time you asked if he might date you. Please, we get it and..."

"But I bet I forgot to mention he has his own radio station, that practically makes him an actor or something. He's the most popular radio station in the wasteland. Plus he's just so hot, and not just because he's a fire type pokemon either!"

Lloyd pressed the pillow down over his head even harder, trying desperately to drown out Rita, or smoother himself, whatever worked.

Like an angel from above, Ewan came in, saving him from anymore.

"Good news guys, while we are still being cautious, we are letting everyone go now. Your free to go do that mission."

Lloyd was about to thank him, but Rita excitedly jumped off her bed and ran to the door, pushing Ewan out of the way.

"Come on guys! Lets go! We don't wanna be late!"

Rita ran ahead, not waiting for either of them.

"Rita wait up!" As he passed by Ewan he whispered to him. "Save us, please!"

"Lloyd, come oooooon!" Rita came back, bit into Lloyds arm, and pulled him down the hall.

"Oww! Rita that hurts!"

Ewan was about to leave too, but then he noticed that Isaac wasn't going anywhere, he hadn't done or said anything since Ewan got there.

"Hey, Isaac!"

"...Huh?" He said, sounding like he just woke up.

"Rita and Lloyd just left, you better follow them."

"Hm, I guess."

"Is something the matter? You sound like you've got something on your mind, are you still thinking about what happened in Pipton?"

"No, Lloyd already convinced me that it wasn't my fault. This is something different, nothing bad or anything."

"Well? What is it then?"

"Its... A girl."

"Oh... Ooooooh! I see now, you found yourself a girl friend, am I right?"

"No, no! Well... I asked her on a date, well I don't think she knows its a date, I just don't know what to do..."

"Well, I for one have had many a girlfriend in my days. A heartbreaker like me probably isn't the best guy to give you advice on the subject. The only thing I can't say is be yourself, and maybe she'll accept you."

"Huh... Thanks Ewan. I feel a lot better."

"Its no problem, now go catch up to your friends."

Isaac got off his bed and began to catch up, but Ewan stopped him as he passed.

"One moment, who is it, if you don't mind me asking."

"Umm..."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Secrets safe with me!"

"Its... The Buneary who works in the mail room."

Ewan let him go, letting Isaac go catch up with Rita and Lloyd. Ewan was in disbelief at what Isaac had just said, at who he just admitted his love interest was.

"He's in love with that loony girl? He's in love with Jennifer? Oh dear..."

---

Location: Havok City, just outside the Brotherhood HQ

Isaac finally caught up with Rita and Lloyd, who had stopped just outside the HQ so Rita could look at her map.

"Hey guys."

"Hey Isaac. Ok Rita, where do we need to go. Where is PNR?"

Rita looked for a few more seconds, then she found it.

"Here it is, according to the map its about... three hours south of here? So not counting what ever it is Kane needs us to do. The whole mission should take a little over six hours. Depending on what the mission specifically entails, we should be back before night time."

"Great!" Said Isaac, a bit too enthusiastically.

"Why?" Asked Lloyd. "What's going on with you tonight?"

"Umm..." Isaac didn't want to tell them yet, he didn't really want to tell anyone at all, he only told Ewan because he pressured him into telling him. "Its nothing, I just have plans is all, private stuff you know?"

Nobody said anything. It was obvious to Rita and Lloyd that he was hiding something, but it sounded innocent enough.

"So anyway." Said Rita. "We still have plenty of supplies from Pipton, so we don't need to go shopping. Shall we go?"

"Yeah!" Said Isaac, again with a little too much enthusiasm. "Lets go! The faster the better!"

Isaac lead the way out of town, Rita and Lloyd having no choice but to follow after him. It was obvious Isaac was in a hurry, and nothing they could say or do was gonna stop that.

---

Location: The Database Room

Jennifer had finished distributing the mail early, so she decided to get to work early on updating the database. That was the purpose of the mountain of papers, each one had new information she needed to input into the database. It was definitely not going to be finished in her lifetime, even if she lived to see two-hundred.

For some reason, she couldn't concentrate, which was not like her. Typically she was so overloaded with work that she had no time to think, but the amount of mail she had to distribute this morning was minimal, and for the first time in weeks she had spare time, or at least, time she didn't have to work at top speed.

_Who was that boy, that Piplup, earlier?_ She said to herself. _He was very nice, but he seemed a bit... I don't know._

She'd never had anyone come visit her before, in fact she rarely have anyone talk to her at all other then her sisters and brothers, but they typically just teased her.

_Nobody's been that nice to me..._

Jennifer didn't like to think about her social life, ever since getting her job in the mail room, she never had the time to hang out with friends, and eventually lost touch with everyone she knew. Even before the job, she only had a few, maybe two or three, friends she hung out with regularly.

"**I wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out later, maybe tonight after my team goes on our mission?"**

_He was strange, but maybe that's a good thing, no that doesn't make any sense..._

What ever was the goal of that Piplup, Isaac, Jennifer couldn't tell. She figured she'd just go with it and see how things turned out.

_Better finish my work if I'm gonna have enough time to see that movie._

Sighing in the darkness, Jennifer took a pile of papers and began to type the information into the computer, repeating the same task she had been doing for years, bored out of her mind.


	15. Tesla Depths

I lied again (aren't I just the worst?), 'A Guided Tour' part 1 and 2 have been revised, as well, like the first six revised chapters, fused together into one chapter, chapter 4. This is the last time I'm combining two chapters to make one.

Also, all current/future chapters are/will (be) a minimum of 2000 words.

Something big happens at the end, just FYI, hope you guys like what happens. ; )

Chapter 15: Tesla Depths

Location: On route to PNR

"Did you know he has his own fan club? I tried to join but they wouldn't let me for some reason, something about being overly talkative or something like that. Too bad for them, cause I'm Kane's biggest fan by far. Maybe I should make my own club or something, I'd get you two to join and you could help recruit members and such. Oh I have an idea! Lets change the name of the team to 'Team Kane'! It'd be a lot easier then starting a club from scratch I think. I wonder if he's as handsome as he is in the pictures I have of him, I have a lot of pictures by the way, ones from magazines and newspapers that have interviewed him. What if he's even hotter in real life? That would be so awesome. Hey guys, did you know that Kane collected stamps? Supposedly he has hundreds of them. Think he'd believe me if I told him I also collect stamps? Maybe having something in common would make him want to date me! I wonder where he would take me if we went on a date? Would he take me to dinner? Maybe a movie? Or maybe we'll just hang out at his house. He has a big house by the way, huge, third largest home in the wasteland, and he's all alone in it to, well if you don't count his servants that is. Wait a sec, if we got married then they would be my servants too! I've never had servants before, I wonder what its like? Would they do anything I'd ask? That would be awesome. But not as awesome as Kane of course. Did I mention..."

"RITA! SHUT UP!" Said both Lloyd and Isaac at the same time.

"... What?"

---

Location: PNR radio tower

What was supposed to be a short trip felt like the longest, not five minutes after leaving the Brotherhood HQ, Rita began to talk and talk endlessly, everything about Kane, or getting married to Kane, or what it would be like being married to Kane.

Isaac, despite Rita's endless fan-girl rant, was still in a hurry to get to PNR. Was he in a hurry to be somewhere? Was he too, a huge fan of Kane? Was it just the fact this was his first official mission as a member of Team Valiant? Lloyd couldn't tell, and because of Rita, really didn't blame him if he was in a hurry.

Finally, Lloyd, as well as Rita and Isaac, saw the tower. The building wasn't as big as Lloyd figured it'd be, the building itself was only about twice the size as their room back at the brotherhood. Out of the top sprouted a large metal mesh of poles, this was obviously the device that sent the radio signal out.

"I can't believe I'm finally here... Wow!"

Much to Lloyd and Isaacs delight, finally arriving at PNR made Rita near speechless, no longer talking about Kane at all.

Instead, she screamed very loudly, and sprinted faster then Lloyd or Isaac ever imagined she could run all the way to PNR.

"Well." Said Lloyd. "Better follow her."

"Do we have to?"

"Unfortunately, yes, yes we do."

Lloyd and Isaac both sighed, wishing they had gotten a different mission.

---

The inside of PNR was extremely hot, not surprising since it sits in the sun all day. Lloyd and Isaac looked around the first room, but Rita, as well as their mission giver Kane, were no where in sight.

"Listen miss, I understand your excitement believe me..."

The sound came from the other room, Lloyd and Isaac rushed over and found both Rita and the arcanine Kane inside. Rita was standing on top of Kane.

"... You really need to get off, I can't sign you any autographs if your on top of me like this."

From what Lloyd and Isaac guess, she had jumped him as soon as she saw him.

"Yes... I..."

She sounded like she was ready to explode from excitement, her voice was so full of joy.

"I can't believe I'm meeting you... In person! This is... AHHHH!"

"Yeah, I get that a lot, it's the price of fame." Said Kane.

Lloyd and Isaac already didn't like him, he talked like he was the center of the universe.

"So... I can assume you're the ones the Brotherhood sent to help with my little problem?"

Lloyd decided to speak, Isaac probably didn't want to anymore then him, and Rita probably couldn't say anything needing to be said.

"Yeah we are, the Brotherhood sent us. We're Team Valiant, my name is Lloyd, the Piplup is Isaac, and you've already met Rita."

"Yes, I have. Now lets get down to business..." Kane jumped up onto a nearby couch and sat before he continued. "Right behind this place is a small mystery dungeon, inside is the generator that powers the radio station. I need you guys to go down there, while I stay up here, communicating with you over the radio, so I can tell you when the power has returned. The generator is finicky, and you can't tell if the power is back on from down there. Pretty simple job if I say so myself."

"Wait a sec." Said Lloyd. "Why don't you go down yourself and have us tell you when the powers back on? You should know more about the generator then us."

"The thing about that is, I don't want to, and its your job. You don't like it you can go back and send someone else to help me."

Lloyd was about to respond, but Rita ran over and pushed him over. "Hahaha, don't mind him Kane, he says really stupid stuff sometimes. Of course we'll do this for you!"

"Hmm, thanks dear, Rita was it? I'll make sure to have an autograph for you when you get back, along with the reward I promised."

"Oh wow! Guys, come on lets go! NOW!"

Lloyd and Isaac didn't want to mess with Rita, her tone was clear, she wasn't going to ask twice without something bad happening to either of them. Lloyd and Isaac obediently left.

"Bye Kane! I'll make sure to work extra hard for you!" Rita gave one last admiring look at Kane and followed after them.

Kane laughed to himself, "I Still got it. The lady's love me, as always."

---

"So Rita, what's this mystery dungeon called?"

"One sec..." She pulled out her map. "Tesla Depths, full of low level electric types. Its pretty small, only 8 floors, with the last floor being where the generator should be."

"Water and electric?" Said Isaac. "That's an odd combination of wild pokemon."

"Well, it doesn't matter, lets just get this mission over with." Said Lloyd.

"Lets hurry, I want that autograph right now!"

---

Location: Tesla Depths, 1st Floor

Tesla depths was definitely the strangest mystery dungeon they've been in so far. The floor wasn't a plain old stone path like the others, it was a metal catwalk, suspended over pools of electrified water. Nobody could think of what purpose the water had, or why it was electrified like it was.

"This place is weird." Said Rita. She peered through the holes in the metal walkway, watching sparks jump out of the water like fish.

"Yeah, that's an understatement, I've never seen anything like this before." Said Isaac.

"Perhaps this place was built by humans?" Suggested Lloyd. "We've seen lots of buildings left over from when they were alive."

"Perhaps." Said Isaac. "I had read once that humans had a lot of different ways of creating power, many methods used the elements, including water."

"Well, lets not waste time pondering it here." Said Lloyd. "Maybe we'll figure it out on the way. Come on."

Lloyd motioned for everyone to follow him, which they did, and preceded down the first hallway, into a large room. Inside was two pokemon, a Pachirisu, and...

"Isn't that the Squirtle from before?" Asked Lloyd.

Indeed it was, the green shelled Squirtle that helped them find and get through Glacier Tunnel. He was currently battling the Pachirisu all by himself.

The Pachirisu charged up an electric attack, much like Lloyd always does when he is about to use one. When it unleashed the electricity at Squirtle, he rolled forward, right underneath the bolt of electricity, and delivered one of his devastating mega punch attacks before it even knew its target had dodged the attack. The Pachirisu fall back, fainted from the powerful blow.

Squirtle noticed the three of them for the first time, he didn't recognize them right away, so was still in a battle ready stance. But a moment later saw who they were and dropped his guard.

"Well, well, if it isn't you two again. And who's this with you?" He said, referring to Isaac.

"My name is Isaac, I joined the team in Pipton."

"Pleasure to meet you. What are you guys doing here anyways?"

"That guy Kane." Lloyd began. "He wants us to turn his generator back on."

"Hmm, well I wish you luck with that. I must be going now, I didn't find anything here."

"Your leaving already?" Asked Rita.

"There are still many places I need to go. Don't worry, we'll see each other in the future, I promise."

Squirtle pulled an orb out of his shell.

"By the way you guys, be careful on the 7th floor, the entire floor is electrified. Good luck."

whispered into it, activating its power. In a flash of light, he was gone.

"Who was that guy?" Asked Isaac.

"Someone I met awhile ago, first time I met him he helped me find the town that had the hospital I was searching for so I could help Lloyd. The second time was right before we met you, in Glacier Tunnel, he once again helped us find the place, he also came with most of the way down."

"You have no idea who he is? No name?"

"Nope." Replied Lloyd.

"Doesn't really matter though." Said Rita. "We trust him enough, he hasn't given us any reason to doubt him yet. What I'm worried about is what he said just before he left, if the entire floor is electrified, how are we going to cross?"

"We'll figure that out when we get there." Said Lloyd. "For now we have six other floors of wild pokemon to worry about."

"He's right, don't worry about that Rita. If we can't get across, we'll get Lloyd to carry us over or something."

"Like I can lift the both of you across!"

"... I meant one at a time Lloyd."

"Oh."

---

Location: Tesla Depths, 5th Floor

They had encountered quite a few problems on the 5th floor of the mystery dungeon. As soon as they got down, they were attacked by four pokemon at once. The pokemon were a voltorb, an electrode, and two magnimite.

The voltorb was easy enough to handle, Rita managed to take it our with a single razor leaf before it had the chance to attack. But things started to go wrong when Isaac tried to fight the electrode, he tried to take it out with a bubble attack, but most of his attack had missed, only doing partial damage. While near Rita, Lloyd and Isaac, the electrode used its explosion attack, sacrificing itself to deal severe damage to everyone, with the two magnimite still left to deal with.

"We're in trouble." Said Lloyd, who while was the least damaged of the three of them, was still in pretty poor shape.

"Oh, really?" Rita was still moving too, but Lloyd could tell it wouldn't take much for her to be knocked out.

Isaac had fainted as soon as the explosion went off, he wasn't in any immediate danger, no cuts or anything, but he still needed to be protected until they could heal him, which was a difficult task when they had to protect him against two wild pokemon at once.

The first of the magnimite charged up, readying an electric attack. Rita quickly used her razor leaf attack before it could finish charging. Her attack hit it, but it didn't stop, it aimed in her direction an unleashed the electricity, she managed to launch one more razor leaf before the shock reached her. Both attacks hit, magnimite couldn't handle the attack and fell out of the air, unconscious, Rita on the other hand was still awake, but she was so badly hurt she couldn't stand straight.

"Rita, get out of here, us one of our escape orbs, take Isaac out and rest, I can handle the rest of this place."

"No Lloyd, that's crazy! Your too hurt to..."

"Just do it Rita! I'll be fine, just leave the rest of the supplies here and I'll be fine."

The second magnimite attacked, flying towards Lloyd to tackle him, but Lloyd was quicker, he jumped over the magnimite and slammed him down with his tail, the last wild pokemon had finally been defeated.

"See? No worries."

Lloyd could tell Rita didn't want to go without him, but both of them knew if they were going to finish this mystery dungeon any time soon, Lloyd had to keep going.

"Ok, I'll go with Isaac up to the surface and wait for you... Good luck."

"Yeah... thanks."

She dropped the bag containing there supplies for the trip, taking out the escape orb.

"There's still one left in there, so if you get in trouble, use it. We can always do this mission tomorrow or something."

"Ok... I will."

She went over to Isaac and whispered into the orb. In a flash of light, both of them disappeared, leaving Lloyd alone in the mystery dungeon.

Or at least, he thought he was alone.

---

Location: Tesla Depths, 6th Floor

Before moving on, Lloyd popped an oran berry into his mouth, chewed and swallowed it. He felt the effects near instantly, making his whole body feel like new again.

_This won't be so bad. _He thought to himself. _Only one floor left that has wild pokemon on it, and I have plenty of oran berries, as well as an escape orb._

The 6th floor was much darker then the first five floors, the only light came from the occasional spark coming out of the water below the catwalks. Lloyd decided to try the trick he learned going down the stairs to the database room, which he decided to call 'Spark Light'.

He went down the long dark hallways, his paw an inch away from the wall, producing the spark light. The whole place suddenly got really creepy, not a sound could be heard in the darkness except for the occasional drip of water and pop of electricity. He felt like he was in some kind of mad scientists lab, and that one of his creations would suddenly jump out to scare him.

Just then, something tiny whipped right by Lloyd, not stopping at all to attack or anything. Lloyd was more bewildered then frightened. Whatever it was it was half his size, and really fast. When it passed he was once again alone in the darkness.

_What on earth was that?_ _Was it a pokemon?_

Again, the thing ran by, passing him from the other side this time, once again he didn't see it in detail.

"Who's there?" Lloyd said, trying to sound as tough and brave as he could.

A third time it passed, this time Lloyd was ready for it, he looked right at it as it whizzed by. It didn't look like any pokemon he'd ever seen before, it just looked like a ball of light, like a tiny candle flying in the air, but without the candle.

Lloyd decided to follow it, it was obviously trying to get his attention, and he didn't think it would hurt to follow it.

The ball of light moved down the hall quickly, Lloyd had to run to catch up, when it turned around a corner, it did so without slowing down, always taking Lloyd by surprise. When the ball of light stopped, he was in a room he'd never been in before, inside was the stairs down.

_So the ball of light WAS helping me... But why?_

"Hey, why did you..." But by the time Lloyd could say anything, the ball of light disappeared, just like how the light from a candle would disappear if you blew out the flame.

"This is really weird."

Despite the weirdness, he had no choice but to continue. Whether the light was leading him safely though the halls, or it was leading him to a trap, Lloyd was about to find out.

---

Location: Tesla Depths, 7th Floor

The 7th floor wasn't much a floor at all. The only thing here was a single long hallway that lead to a staircase going up again.

_What's the point of this place?_

He took two steps forward, about to step on the catwalk when he heard a voice in his head.

"_Stop! Don't go any further!"_

Lloyd thought he was imagining things, but the voice was so clear.

"Who are you? What's going on?"

"_Don't worry about who I am, just listen to what I have to say."_

"Why should I?"

"_Because if you don't, you won't be able to continue."_

Lloyd didn't like it, he didn't trust the voice at all.

"Fine, what do you want?"

"_Remember the Squirtles words, the entire floor from here to the far end is electrified. Even an electric type pokemon like you wouldn't be able to survive long."_

"So what do I do?"

"_Simple, go as fast as you can. Don't let the pain get you down, keep going with all your strength."_

"Why should I do this? Why shouldn't I turn back now, or use my escape orb? I can get someone stronger to do this mission, someone who can handle this."

"_You're the only one Lloyd, your special, nobody else would last more then a few seconds. Think of this as a test, a test with a reward at the end."_

"A... test?"

But the voice was gone, only his own thoughts remained in his head.

"Who could that voice have been? And me, special? I must be going crazy..."

He forgot about his 'conversation', and looked at the supposed electrified floor. It didn't look like it was electrified at all, unlike the water below the catwalks in the upper levels, there were no sparks jumping and popping up, there was no sound suggesting it was electrified. From what Lloyd could tell, the catwalk was completely harmless.

He stepped forward, and instantly he fell backwards. He had just been shocked worse then he thought was possible.

"Ok, so it is electrified then..."

Lloyd didn't think he could possibly go so far walking on this floor. The second he put his foot on it, it felt like he got trampled by a Rapidash or something.

_There's no way I can do this._

But despite these thoughts, despite the pain from the shock, he went forward to try again. He couldn't tell what was driving him to continue, the mission wasn't particularly important, was it him being stubborn? Was he trying to prove himself somehow?

All these thoughts disappeared when he took his first step across the catwalk.

His entire body was in agony, the electricity going through every part of him. He felt like his body suddenly caught fire, every part of him burning. This was nowhere near what he produced when he charged up a thunder shock or thunder bolt, comparing the sensations was like comparing a rock to a mountain.

He didn't yell out, all he did was growl as the pain continued. Walking steadily towards where he needed to go.

He didn't think at all, he didn't say anything, all he did was keep walking, trying to suppress the pain as much as he could. When he looked forward he saw he had made it only half way, still quite a distance to go.

"_There is a great power in you."_

It was the same voice from before.

"_The only way you can learn to use it, is to call on it. One day you'll need this power, and you'll thank me."_

"What do you mean? WHAT!?" He yelled out, but the voice was gone again.

Lloyd dropped down to his hands and knees, the floor still painfully shocking him. He knew he couldn't stop, he knew he had to keep going. He tried to stand back up again, but his legs wouldn't listen, he couldn't stand at all. He began to crawl forward, still on his hands and knees, still feeling the pain of the electricity.

Suddenly, he felt a weird sensation in his body, like he was somehow changing. His body felt like it was absorbing the electricity like a sponge, all the pain started to go away as the new feeling grew stronger. He felt like he did when he ate an oran berry, the feeling of power filled him, the pain getting less and less a problem.

The pain was all gone now, even though he was still being shocked. It was like he had somehow grown immune to the electricity.

No longer crippled from the pain, he stood up. When he did so, something didn't feel right, he felt... taller?

He walked the rest of the way, moving along as if nothing was happening. One final step, and he was off the electrified catwalk., now standing on the stairs up that he'd thought he'd never in a million years reach.

"Whoa... what happened?" he said to himself, his voice sounded oddly deep.

He stretched his body, everything all feeling all stiff, as though he'd just gotten out of bed after a long rest.

The feeling of being taller wasn't his imagination, it was like he was walking on stilts. Not only that, but his body felt heavier, and he felt much more powerful. He looked at himself, and saw that his feet, his paws, his tail, all looked different, they all changed slightly in shape, size and color.

"_This is your power Lloyd, this is the power you will call on when you need it most. You will definitely need it in the future. In other words, your welcome."_

Out of nowhere, the strange ball of light appeared. Lloyd touched it, but his hand went right through. It changed shape in front of him, no longer a ball of light, but now a mirror.

Lloyd looked at his reflection, and saw he had change much more then he thought. His body was no longer just yellow, but he was now orange and black. His tail was much longer, his cheeks no longer red, but now yellow.

Lloyd remembered seeing something similar, way back when they had fought Zar in Havok City. Somehow, the incredible pain he felt walking across the electrified floor caused him to change, he had evolved.

"Wow, this is so awesome!"

Celebrating his new power, he unleashed a thunder bolt attack in all directions, one much more powerful then he could produce as a pikachu.

_What was my evolution called again... Raichu? Yeah that's it..._

Lloyd didn't know how it happened, didn't know how the electrified floor managed to evolve him. But he didn't care, he didn't think it necessary to question something so great.

"Ha, wait till Isaac and Rita see me now!"


	16. More Changes

This is it, the last chapter for quite a while. Make sure to put my story on story alert so you know when the next chapter comes out. It might not be for a week, it might not be for a few weeks. But it definitely wont be before Christmas or immediately after, since I'll have Fallout 3 to play (And I'll be playing it a lot, I want the trophies), work to go to, and any other presents I get, to enjoy.

So, to all my readers, have a happy holiday, and don't eat yellow snow.

Chapter 16: More Changes

Location: Tesla Depths, 8th Floor

Lloyd was still getting used to his new body. Walking was the hardest thing to get used to, his feet were bigger, making him trip and stub his toes occasionally. But the small inconveniences were over looked because of the many advantages to his evolution., he was much stronger physically, something he noted when he began to carry the once weighty bag, which now felt as though it was completely empty. The best thing was the boost in power for his electric attacks, he could charge up three times as fast, as well he unleashed much more powerful attacks.

Other then meeting his friends, his evolution was the best thing to happen to him since waking up.

Lloyd remembered he had a job to do, he wanted to do it as soon as possible so he could leave and show off to everyone. Luckily the last floor was, like many of the other mystery dungeons he's been to, empty except for the massive generator he was looking for.

Krrssh "Hello? Hello? Is this thing on? Is that you team Valiant?"

It was Kane, talking on some kind of intercom.

"Its just me Kane, the others had to leave, so I went on alone."

"And who are you?"

_Oh yeah, forgot, my voice is different._ "Uhh, its Lloyd."

"Oh, the little yellow one. Well if your all I got, hurry over to the console next to the big tube like thing, that's what controls the generator."

Lloyd saw what he was talking about, the largest thing in the room was a big metal cylinder, looking like a giant can of some kind, with a machine covered in buttons next to it. He went over to it and got ready to push whatever it was Kane wanted pushing.

"Ok... First thing, says here that you first got to start the 'turbine' by pressing the green button on the upper left, next to a large red button... Then you gotta turn the third lever on the right side half way..."

---

Location: Outside Tesla Depths

Rita and Isaac safely made it to the surface thanks to the escape orb, the both of them right outside Tesla Depths and within eye sight of PNR.

Rita ate one of the oran berries she brought with her, and was about to feed the other to Isaac. But she stopped when Isaac let out a loud snore, he wasn't fainted, he was asleep.

Rita poked him in the face until he woke up.

"Hey! Wake up!"

"Uggghhh, five more minutes, I'm dreaming about her..."

"Her? What are you talking about?"

"Ahhh! What? Did I say that out loud?!"

Rita didn't really care about his dream, she wanted to know why Isaac was asleep and not badly injured as she had thought.

"Why we're you asleep? You and Lloyd had us worried!"

"Well..." He thought back to when the electrode blew up back in Tesla Caverns. "When we all got blasted like that, I was luckily holding an oran berry that I found a few minutes before that I forgot to put in our bag. When it sent me flying, I ate it to get better, the I forgot how sleepy oran berries made me. Combine the injuries exhausting me, and the berry making me tired, I guess I just drifted off."

"You drifted off IN THE MIDDLE OF A BATTLE?"

"I guess so." He said, sounding innocent.

Rita just hit him in the back of the head with the leaf on her head. "Idiot."

Isaac held the spot she hit him. "Ow!"

"Anyways, who's this girl you were dreaming about?"

_Oh no._ Thought Isaac. _I can't let her find out, she'll make fun of me..._

"I was dreaming about... You?"

She hit him again, much harder this time. Isaac fell forward, a face full of sand and dirt.

"Owww... Why me?"

---

Location: Tesla Depths, 8th Floor

"Finally, flip switches one, three and four into the upright position and press the big yellow button in the middle, with the black lightning bolt on it."

Lloyd did so, he flipped the switches and pressed the button, nothing happened on his end.

"Did it work?" Ask Lloyd.

"One sec... Yep! The radio tower is at full power, kudos my man."

"Yeah, no sweat!"

"Better hurry out then, your reward waits for you."

Lloyd forgot about the reward, he didn't really care about it though, he was sure Rita did, but Lloyd was happy with evolving, he didn't think he'd care about money or any other luxuries for at least a little while.

He pulled the last escape orb out of the bag, the bag must of been shock proof pr something, because nothing inside was at all damaged. He whispered 'activate' to it, and like it had back in Celsius Cave, the orb engulfed him in light, and in an instant, Lloyd was outside.

---

Location: Outside Tesla Depths

"You can be such an idiot sometimes, Isaac!"

"It's not my fault I fall asleep so easy, and its not my fault that Oran berries make me tired!"

"No, but it is your fault that... What are you staring at?"

Isaac wasn't paying attention to Rita anymore, he stared, mouth open, at something standing behind her.

"Great googly moogly!" Was all Isaac said.

"What are you staring at?"

She turned around and noticed the pokemon behind her. He was big and orange, not a pokemon she's ever seen before, and yet something about him reminded her of someone.

"What do you want?" She said to it, mad that it had interrupted her.

"Hey guys." It said. "What's up?"

While his voice was different, much deeper then before, Rita and Isaac both could tell who this pokemon was. It was Lloyd, who must have evolved after they left.

"Wow... just wow... how?" Said Rita, awestruck.

"I have no idea, remember that electrified floor Squirtle talked about? It just happened while I was trying to walk across it, about three quarters of the way across."

"Wow." Said Isaac. "I don't think I've met anyone who has evolved that I knew before he evolved."

"Me neither, every evolved pokemon I know was like the way they were when I met them."

Lloyd laughed. "Jealous?"

They both nodded there heads, still in awe at Lloyds new form.

"Well, you guys can stare all you want on the way back, lets go get our reward."

---

Location: On route to Havok City

Kane thanked them for their work, and promised to dedicate his first show to team valiant for their efforts. Lloyd was surprised to see that Rita didn't drool all over Kane again, like she did before. She, Isaac as well, were too excited, happy, curious among many other emotions, in regards to Lloyds new form.

They were about half way back to Havok City, the sun still up, if barely.

"What's it feel like evolving?" Asked Isaac

"Well, I was a little distracted by the shock I was getting from that electrified floor, but when I got off it, I felt like I had just woken up from a great nap, being taller and bigger is going to take getting used to though."

"How much stronger do you feel?" Asked Rita.

"A lot stronger, the bag is pretty much weightless, and my electric powers are much more potent, and much easier to use."

"How do you think it happened? Didn't the database say you evolved with a thunder stone?"

"That... I have no idea about. Maybe I'm just lucky?"

"You should probably get examined by a doctor or something." Suggested Isaac."

"Nah, I feel great. Don't worry, I'm sure I'm fine."

"We should do something together, to celebrate. What do you guys say?"

"Ummm... I can't" Said Isaac. "I already have plans."

"Plans?" Asked Lloyd. "You''ve been in the city barely a day and you have plans?"

"Yep. Why's that so hard to believe?"

"Is it with someone? Did you make friends with someone other then us already?" Asked Rita

"Yeah, I guess you could say that..."

"Who?!" Both Rita and Lloyd asked at once.

"Nobody! Just drop it ok!"

Isaac stormed ahead without them, obviously trying to avoid the subject. Lloyd was about to catch up with him, but Rita stopped him and whispered to him.

"Just leave him, you and I, maybe even Ewan, we'll go alone somewhere."

"Yeah, ok, sounds good I guess."

Lloyd was disappointed he wouldn't be spending the night celebrating with everyone, but he didn't want to bug Isaac anymore, he obvious was embarrassed about something and it wouldn't be right to push the subject. Lloyd was sure he'd tell them eventually, and if he didn't, it was no big deal.

He ran ahead, but not to Isaac, he stayed back a bit to give him space. Rita did the same, walking next to Lloyd.

"Congrats Lloyd." She said to him. "This is really awesome."

"Thanks again."

---

Location: Unknown

"Boss, the subject had evolved, just like you said he would."

"Good, good. Looks like its time to send out another pokemon to capture him, he'll be losing his power soon."

"Who should I call?"

"Lets see... I got it. We'll get 'her' to prove her loyalty."

"Right away sir. Sending a message to Gastly and Raticate now to pass on our request. Are you sure we can trust this pokemon Boss?"

"She owes me, and she knows I'm capable of doing horrible things to her friends. Yes... I'm quite certain, she'll have no problem capturing Lloyd once he's lost his power."

---

Location: The Brotherhood HQ

Team Valiant entered the HQ from the usual entrance. None of them had any idea where Ewan was, so they decided to ask Eva, or Stephanie (they didn't know which one is was.)

"Hey, have you seen Ewan?" Asked Rita. "We want to show him something."

"Oh... Its you."

Eva, or Stephanie, still seemed to not like Rita for some reason. It was obvious Rita felt the same.

"Listen, just tell us and we'll go away. I'm sure your incredibly busy, what with your sitting around all day."

"Why you little..."

"Hey hey!" Lloyd intervened. "Lets not starts anything ok? Could you please tell us?"

The Lopunny, looked admiringly at Lloyd.

"Oh, whos your new friend here? He's kinda cute."

Rita smirked. "That's Lloyd, the guy who was with me before you thought was all weak and would never be able to pass the exam."

"Your kidding, you actually evolved? Ha! Ewan should be back soon, him and some of his team are on a mission, just like everyone else."

The thought of Ewan actually doing a mission was kind of surprising, since finding them a few days ago, he has been here helping them constantly, or helping find the pokemon that killed so many townspeople awhile ago. But it did make sense for him to be gone, he was in the Brotherhood, and thus did missions every day, just like them.

"Oh, and by the way, I was told to tell you guys that the captain is returning soon, he'll be here in two days. Were you looking for him or something?"

"What business is it to you?" Said Rita, still being aggressive despite Lloyds pleas to stop.

Lloyd said to the Lopunny, before the argument started again. "We got to the last level of the sewer and found some rock thing, but don't know what it is, we heard he got to the end as well and thought he would know what it is."

"Your kidding, you got to the end of the exam?"

"Not so weak huh?"

"You were lucky."

"Grrrr!" Rita was starting to get really mad, so Lloyd thought it best if they left.

"Just tell Ewan to see us tomorrow before we go ok? I wanna surprise him."

"I guess... See you later Lloyd... Smell you later, pipsqueak."

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" Lloyd had to hold her back, she had finally lost it. He dragged her all the way to the elevator.

"Uh, why did you do that Lloyd?"

"Huh, the elevators not so bad now. Guess me evolving made me get over my motion sickness."

Rita knew he didn't hear her, but she stopped caring, last thing she wanted was that Lopunny, Eva or Stephanie or whatever, ruining the day.

"Hey, where's Isaac?"

Lloyd was first to notice that he hadn't joined them in the elevator. He was gone.

"He must have slipped away while we were fighting, probably went to meet this person he was talking about."

Lloyd yawned. "I think I might just go to bed, I'm tired all of the sudden..."

Rita nodded. "Yeah, me too."

The elevator stopped, opening its doors. The halls were moderately crowded, but not nearly as much as it was it the morning. Rita and Lloyd went straight to their room.

Rita went to her bed and jumped on, Immediately laying down to sleep. "See you tomorrow Lloyd."

"Good night Rita."

A few seconds later, she fell asleep leaving Lloyd alone.

Lloyd went to his bed, but stopped suddenly when he passed their rooms mirror. He never really looked in it before, but seeing his new self attracted him to it. He turned and looked at himself, then flexed his arms.

"Lookin' good."

He yawned again.

_Man, I must be more tired then I thought..._

Without wasting another second, he walked over to his bed and got it, relaxed a bit, and soon went to sleep, snoring softly.

---

Location: Database Room

Isaac decided to split while Rita and the Lopunny fought each other. Rushing straight to the mail room, and when Jennifer was nowhere to be found, he went to the backroom and went down stairs, where he found her before he left.

_I hope she's still here, I hope she didn't think I ditched her._

He went down the stairs as fast as he could, nearly tripping twice along the way. He got to the bottom, and looked around, but Jennifer was nowhere to be found.

He looked around, peaking behind stacks of papers, until he eventually found her. She was asleep, laying down face first on the desk where the database computer was.

_She must have fallen asleep while working..._

He looked around, and spotted an old curtain-like cloth on the floor. He picked it up, shook out some dust, and draped it over Jennifer to keep her warm. He didn't want to wake her, they could always go out another day.

_I'll just ask her tomorrow, when we go check the mail. While Rita and Lloyd are reading, I'll go sneak in and ask her. Yeah, good idea._

Jennifer, still asleep, squirmed a little, then pulled the blanket snugly over her, coving everything except most of her head.

Not wanted to risk waking her, Isaac left quietly. Heading straight back to Team Valiant's room so he too could go to sleep.

---

Location: Room 160

Lloyd yawned as soon as he woke up, feeling refreshed.

He couldn't wait to see himself in the mirror again, he still wasn't used to seeing his new body. When he rolled over and got out of bed, he found the distance he fell rather far.

He walked over to the mirror, now towering over him. And saw he was no longer, big, orange and strong looking. But he had now become even smaller then he was when he was a Pikachu. His body once again yellow...

Once again he remembered Zar, the same thing happened to him soon after he evolved.

Lloyd devolved, but not just once either, he wasn't a Raichu, or a Pikachu, he was transformed into his pre-evolution.

_I... I turned into a Pichu?_


	17. Can anybody hear me?

The Christmas holiday (which was awesome BTW) gave me a lot of time to brainstorm new ideas. As far as the story is goes, its finished, but its finished in my head, all I need to do is put it on paper... Well, you know what I mean.

Chapter 17: Can anybody hear me?

Rita woke up, still tired from sleeping. She wasn't feeling that great, but she was sure she would feel better if she got out of bed and got active.

She inched her way to the edge of the bed and dropped down to the floor as gracefully as her stiff body could muster. She yawned loud and wide, stopping mid yawn when she realized there were other people sleeping, she didn't want to accidentally wake them.

She looked at the bed where Isaac slept, it was empty and already made, but she wasn't worried, she figured he was eating in the cafeteria or something.

Lloyd on the other hand, as far as Rita could tell, was in his bed, the covers over his head, hiding his entire body. He didn't make a single noise as he slept.

"Better not wake him." She wasn't being concerned about Lloyd at all, she just was remembering the first time she woke him up, and how much worse it would be now that he'd evolved. If he was still asleep when she got back, she would just throw a book at him or something.

She left the room, heading for the cafeteria for some breakfast. Unlike what she had thought, Lloyd wasn't in bed at all, if she had looked closer, she would have seen that the lump was merely a pillow that had happened to have the covers thrown over it, making it look like Lloyd was still asleep.

---

Lloyd wandered the halls of the brotherhood, confused and desperate for help. He tried to wake Rita, but his tiny body couldn't even reach the top of the bed, and Isaac was gone.

Luckily for Lloyd, Isaac didn't close the door tightly behind him, so he managed to push the door open by using all his strength.

As usual, the hall was frantic with pokemon going in every direction, none of them stopping to even look at Lloyd, as if he was invisible.

"Hey, could someone help me!" He tried to say, but all that came out of his mouth was a strange squeak, it sounded like baby talk.

_What happened to my voice!_ Lloyd thought to himself. This cant be... _Am I gonna be like this forever? I need to find help._

Lloyd figured the best place to look would be the cafeteria, since that seemed to be where most people went this early in the morning. Hopefully there he would find Ewan or Isaac, and that they would help him.

Lloyd didn't notice, but two brotherhood members had stopped to take notice of him, a Houndour and Rhydon.

"Where do you think he came from?" Asked the Rhydon, referring to the confused looking Lloyd.

"Probably a run away from the nursery, its not that far from here. Lets go get him and bring him back before he gets hurt."

"Ok, but lets hurry, breakfast is almost over."

---

Despite his hunger, Isaac didn't go to the cafeteria right away. Instead he went straight to the mail room, hoping to talk to Jennifer before she got to busy. He didn't see her at all in the front room, so he went back to look for her, he didn't find her until he went down to the database room, she was right where she was last time he saw her, asleep in front of the computer.

Isaac didn't realize it at first, but this meant that nobody got their mail yet, and anytime now pokemon would be marching here in herds in search of their daily mission.

_Oh no, Jennifer is gonna get in trouble. I should have woke her up last night..._ _I gotta make this up for her. _Isaac thought hard about what to do, his little Piplup brain working a mile a minute._ I got it!_ _I'll do the mail for her!_ _How hard could it be?_

---

Rita was in the cafeteria, alone, sitting at a table eating nothing except a single fruit, a tropius banana, her favourite food in the whole world.

She wondered to herself where Isaac went, ever since coming here he has been acting weird. She had to go look for him as soon as she was finished eating.

Then she thought about Lloyd, and his new evolved form. Rita was always a little afraid of evolving, she had seen the size of her evolutions, Bayleaf and Meganium, and she thought she would never get used to the difference. But even since Lloyd evolved, she'd been thinking it might not be a bad idea to train so she could evolve, and maybe become even stronger then Lloyd had become.

"Excuse me."

The voice surprised Rita, who wasn't paying attention. She turned and saw the voice came from a charmander, at first she had thought, despite his capture, it was Zar coming to get her, but this one looked incredibly nervous, he was even chewing on the tip of his claw, making look even more nervous.

"What do you want?" Rita asked, a bit more rudely then she intended.

The charmander, looking very shy all the sudden, didn't say anything.

"Come on, hurry up, what?"

"I'm sorry." Was all he said, then he turned tail and ran out of the cafeteria, leaving Rita in a state of bewilderment.

"Who the heck was that guy?"

She thought for a moment whether or not to follow the charmander out of the cafeteria, she figured it would be a good idea, and Isaac wasn't here anyways. She got up, threw away her empty banana peal in a nearby trash can, and ran out the door to follow the Charmander.

Rita looked left and right down the hallways, at the last moment she saw the charmanders fire lit tail disappearing around the corner. The charmander was moving fast, so she had to run fast as well, other wise she would lose him.

When she went round the next corner, she saw the charmander flee around the next corner. But luckily for Rita, the area he went in had no exit, so he would have to run past her to escape. No longer needing to run, she walked slowly and quietly to the dead-end hallway the charmander went into.

She peaked around the corner to see if he was there, and stopped looking when she saw him, as well as two other pokemon, a Bulbasaur and an Eevee. She listened closely to them talk, trying to not breath too loud.

"That was definitely her!" Said the charmander, sounding like he just escaped some kind of killer pokemon. It was obvious to Rita this Charmander was a very anxious pokemon.

"How do you know? What did you ask her? Did you actually ask?" The Bulbasaur sent question after question to charmander, but he didn't answer any of them, he only shook his head telling them that he didn't.

"Should have known better then to send you, you always screw up everything!" The Eevee was being awfully mean, but Rita figured this wasn't the first time Charmander ran off like that.

"I'm sorry..."

"Listen." Said Eevee. "We gotta be discreet about this, if she doesn't wanna go, we gotta be ready to nab her!"

"Right, right. But what if she puts up a fight? She is in Brotherhood to and we would get kicked out for fighting another member."

"Both of you, quit worrying, if we do this we'll get paid enough poke that we wont need the Brotherhood anymore, we'll have enough money to live like kings and queens for the rest of our lives!"

_What's going on? Who wants me so bad? And who are these three?_

Rita wasn't one to stand back and let things happen, especially when it involved her. She made herself look as tough as she could and went around the corner to confront the trio.

"So, I heard you guys were looking for me?"

"Oh no its her!" The charmander turned to run, but went nose first into the wall, causing him to fall backwards onto his butt. He rubbed his nose and said quietly to himself. "Oh yeah."

"Listen." Continued Rita. "I wanna know what you want with me, and I wanna know now!"

The three pokemon all looked at each other, wordlessly deciding who, if anyone, was going to explain their actions.

Finally the Eevee began to speak.

"We are Team Destiny, I'm the leader Marie. The charmander you met not long ago is Alistair, and Bulbasaur is named Ivan."

"Ivan? Then you must be related to that Ivysaur I met."

"You mean father? Yes. We share name. All members of my family share names."

"Ok, so I know who you are. But what are you doing? Why do you wanna 'Nab' me?"

Marie continued to explain. "We got a mission a few days ago, it would be easier if you just read it." Ivan and Marie looked in Alistair's direction, it took him a minute to figure out why they wanted the mission letter from him, he just remembered he was holding there bag. Still rubbing his injured nose with one hand, he dug inside the bag until he found and pulled out the letter.

Rita went over and grabbed it from him Alistair, who flinched slightly when she did, and Rita immediately began to read the letter. Rita noticed that the paper it was written on was quite fancy.

_**Dear Brotherhood of Havok City**_

_**A few days ago, one of my servants, who happened to be in your town less then a week ago, had informed me that a young Chikorita had entered the city that very day. It is a great importance to us that you have this Chikorita escorted here so we may question her. Any further details cannot be discussed now, only know that this is an important task, and that you will be greatly rewarded with a sum of 10,000,000 poke.**_

_**The Royal Family of Oasis Island**_

Rita couldn't believe what she just read, none of it made sense. She decided to question Team Destiny further.

"Ok, first of all, this mission couldn't have been approved by the Brotherhood. Where did you get it? Tell me or I'll get Ewan involved, and he'll probably bring this up with his friend, the captain."

At the mention of their superiors getting involved in the situation, all three of them, especially Alistair, looked very worried.

"Please don't!" Said Marie, sounding both flustrated and scared. "We only... We kinda FOUND this mission. Our mail didn't come a few days ago, so I personally went in the back room to yell at that incompetent buneary who works there, but when I went looking for her, I found a discarded letter on the ground. I knew it was wrong to look inside, but I did so anyways, out of curiosity. When I saw the reward, I knew we couldn't let this opportunity pass up."

Rita sighed to herself, the story sounded true enough. "Ok, I can understand that I guess, just tell me who this Royal Family is and you guys can go."

Marie shrugged, Alistair continued to sit there, rubbing his nose. It was Ivan who started to speak.

"The Royal Family, they rule Oasis Island, as you just read. The Island is to the west, at least a few days travel over ocean. I don't believe it myself, but I heard that this Island is the last place in the world with... Trees. Not just one or two, and not just little twigs poking out of the ground with barely a leaf to call its own, real, and numerous, trees. The whole island is said to be thick with plants, grass, trees, plant pokemon, all that stuff. I've never been, my family comes from north, not west."

Rita took a second to absorb the information, she nodded and said one last thing to the trio of pokemon.

"I'm gonna let you go, as long as you promise not to read any more letters you find, and keep your noses clean. All right?"

"Yeah..."

"Yes. We will be good."

Alistair just nodded, rubbed his nose one last time and stood up. The three of them walked by Rita, all looking sad at their missed opportunity.

Rita still had the mission with her, she looked at it again and thought to herself. _I think it would be a good idea to go see this royal family, Isaac might be in our room by now._

---

Lloyd was beginning to think nobody was going to help him. Every pokemon just kept going by, no matter what he did. He even tried using an electric attack to get some attention, but like his voice, his ability to create a thunder shock was also gone.

Suddenly, something grabbed him by the back of the neck and lifted him into the air, he felt teeth poking him slightly.

_Is someone trying to eat me? Right here in the middle of the Brotherhood HQ? Heeeeeelp!_

But the pokemon didn't bite or chew at all, he just held him up in the air, he wiggled his feet and arms to get free, but that didn't do a thing.

Another pokemon appeared, a Rhydon, towering over both him and the pokemon that had him caught. He smiled pleasantly at him, despite Lloyds obvious desire to get away.

"Don't worry little guy. We'll take you back to your home safe and sound!"

_Home? Where could that possibly be? Let me down!_

Lloyd continued to wiggle his feet and arms to free himself, but his efforts were futile, where ever these guys were bringing him, he was definitely going.


	18. The Infinity Stone Experiment

Chapter 18: The Infinity Stone Experiment

Lloyd continued to dangle inches above the air, being taking who-knows-where despite his obvious struggle to get away.

_Why is this happening to me... One day I'm a big and strong Raichu, then bam, a puny little Pichu!_

Lloyd finally gave up squirming free and just hung their, hanging his head in defeat.

The Brotherhood members that caught him brought him up the elevator, which his new, much weaker form didn't enjoy at all, and then took him outside into the streets of Havok City.

A short walk from the HQ's entrance and they stopped in front of a lone building. The outside of building was colourful, the front bright blue, with the roof being and equally bright red. A sign hung over a door, reading 'Daycare'.

_Life officially sucks..._

---

"Hey, where's our mail?"

"It should have been here by now!"

"What's going on back there? Hey!"

Jennifer's job wasn't as easy as Isaac had thought, there were already teams arriving for their missions and Isaac wasn't even half finished distributing it. It wasn't helping that he now had dozens of pokemon yelling at him from the other side of the cubby holes.

"Hurry up will ya!"

"We should have been gone already! What's taking so long?"

"You couldn't be any slower!"

Isaac had enough, he couldn't concentrate with the constant yelling, so he went to the back room door and yelled out to everyone.

"Would you all shut up!!!"

Everybody went silent.

"Thank you, it'll be five, ten minutes tops, go do something or whatever and come back later!"

Isaac was surprised when they actually obeyed, everybody marched into the hallway not saying a word. He figured they weren't used to such aggression from the person distributing the mail, Jennifer was, from what Isaac knew about her, pretty much a passive pokemon.

Isaac, still frustrated by his work, continued to put mail in its proper slots, trying to move as quickly as possible before more pokemon came in to complain.

---

Lloyd couldn't believe his situation, he was now standing inside a big, fenced in room full of baby pokemon. He had no way to escape, no way to call for help, and it was only a matter of time before the kids took notice of his sudden arrival.

He looked around the room, hoping to find a place to hide. He saw a large toy house that would be perfect, if he could just reach it without being noticed he could think of a plan to get out of here.

That's when something pushed him, making fall over. One of the baby pokemon had noticed him, and wasn't being very friendly. Without getting up he looked at his assailant, it was one he was very familiar with from back in Celsius Cave, a Magby.

"I Don' Wike You."

Lloyd knew he couldn't talk it over, for multiple reasons, so he did the only thing he knew he still could do. He reached over with his foot and tripped the Magby, making it fall backwards very similarly to how Lloyd just had fallen over.

The Magby didn't get back up, instead he just began to cry and scream very loud. Lloyd got up and ran to the toy house before anyone else noticed what was going on. He ducked inside and peeked out the tiny window, a Chansey came to the gate that came across the door and opened the gate by pulling a level. Lloyd couldn't hear what the Chansey had said to Magby, but obviously it was trying to comfort it, she scooped it up and took it out front, closing the gate behind her, locking it by pulling the lever again.

Lloyd knew now how to get out, all he had to do was reach out for the lever that opened the gate, and sneak out while Chansey was busy with Magby.

He started to leave when something, or someone, grabbed his arm and pulled him back into the house. Lloyd fell over again, flat on his back staring up at an Igglybuff.

Lloyd freaked out when he saw what was in its hand, it somehow got a hold of a black, permanent marker, and she stood over him, marker open ready to draw.

"Play with me?"

Lloyd tried to get up and escape, but Igglybuff already began to draw on his face, doodling away like Lloyd was a piece of oddly shaped paper. After a moment, she stopped, and closed the marker.

"All done, your pretty now."

Lloyd was horrified, his faced was now covered in marks that would take hours to wash off. He couldn't stand this awful place anymore, and completely dropped the "sneak" part of the plan, bolting for the gate.

He got to the gate, reached through and pulled the level that kept the gate firmly in place. It dropped to the floor and fell forward, leaving no more obstacles between him and freedom.

_Finally! Yeah! Time to get out..._

"Thought you would try to escape again huh?"

Lloyd looked to his left, he saw the Chansey starting not two feet away, hands on her hips.

"Your being very naughty, maybe you need a nap young man!"

Lloyd tried to get to the door before she got to him, but she was too quick, obviously used to escapees. She grabbed him by the arm, lifted him up, and began to take him into the room she had just came out of.

Inside was a half dozen cribs, most contained a baby pokemon, each baby asleep. The Chansey put Lloyd, laying on his back, in one of the cribs.

"Now get some sleep, no more running off today!"

The Chansey said everything in an annoyingly cheerful voice. Lloyd wanted nothing more then for her to leave, which thankfully she did, leaving him alone in the room with the other nappers.

He looked around his new prison, not seeing anyway to escape. There was no knobs, levers or buttons within reach that might have helped him. Nothing was there except surrounding wooden poles, a blanket and pillow, and a nearby doll of a Clefairy. The doll creped him out slightly, so he immediately tossed it out of the crib.

_Great, I'm trapped in baby prison, can't talk, can't use any of my abilities, and nobody who can help me knows I'm here. How could this get any worse?_

"_It can't, and it won't, I'm here to help."_

Lloyd recognized the voice, it was the one from Tesla Depths, the one that told him to do this in the first place. He tried to yell out to it, but nothing came out of his mouth, he forgot about not being able to speak.

"_Just think, you don't need to speak with me."_

_Who are you? And what's going on?_

"_Its too early for me to tell you about myself, but what I can tell you is why you have experienced de-evolution. First, I must explain the reason behind your evolution into Raichu. Inside your body is a special, artificially created stone called an "Infinity Stone", normally infinity stones are used to evolve anybody, no matter the requirements the pokemon must have to evolve."_

_There's a rock inside me? How is that possible?_

"_An experiment, soon before you lost your memory, you were part of an experiment. The goal was to create a pokemon that could evolve and devolve at will, with as little effort as turning a light switch. The experiment failed, but not completely, you are still capable of evolving and devolving, but your evolution is uncontrollable, and your de-evolution is a side effect. Any time your body experiences a high amount of stress or pain, the stone will automatically activate itself, causing you to evolve. Unfortunately, once you go to sleep, the stone also, in a way, sleeps. Why exactly you devolve twice is unknown."_

_Is that why you made me walk across that electrified floor in Tesla Depths? To show me my power?_

"_Do you not remember my words?"_

Lloyd thought back to yesterday, remembering the things the voice told him.

"_**You're the only one Lloyd, your special, nobody else would last more then a few seconds. Think of this as a test, a test with a reward at the end."**_

"_**The only way you can learn to use it, is to call on it. One day you'll need this power, and you'll thank me."**_

"_**This is your power Lloyd, this is the power you will call on when you need it most. You will definitely need it in the future."**_

_Yeah, I remember. But you said I needed to learn to use it, to call upon it, not have myself electrocuted just to evolve for a few hours!_

"_I know, and you still can, if I'm correct, if you get used to the sensation of evolving, you may one day be able to do it anytime, and with enough practice and strength, without becoming what you are now."_

_Ok, so basically, this happens because I'm an experiment, and it only happens when im stressed out and hurting and stuff, but I can change that by doing it a bunch of times and making myself stronger._

"_Yes."_

_Ok, but who did the experiments? And why? And you mentioned my memory, do you know who I am or how I can remember again?_

"_I'm sorry, but I cannot tell you these things yet. You must wait until the appropriate time, please trust me."_

_Trust you? I don't even know you? Who are you?_

"_Someone you used to know very well."_

_Huh? What do you mean?_

But the voice was gone, he didn't hear a single response.

_Great, now what?_

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the glowing ball that he saw before and after hearing the voice the first time appeared. Before his eyes it transformed into a small metal tool, a miniature saw. It was obvious what he was supposed to do, he picked up the tiny metal saw and began to cut the wooden poles of the crib. Five minutes later he was free, Chansey nowhere in sight.

_Better get out of here, before I get in any more trouble._

"_One last thing, when you get back to the Brotherhood Headquarters, go straight to your room, and rest in your bed until your friends wake you. And I would wait before telling your friends anything, your Chikorita friend is going to have a lot to deal with very soon."_

Lloyd didn't even bother to think anything in response, he new this was all the voice was going to tell him. He hopped down to the floor, quietly walked to the door out of the daycare, opened the door and ran as fast as he could towards the Brotherhood HQ.

---

Isaac finally finished the mail distribution, he looked at the clock, it was exactly noon. He had to hurry back to Team Valiant's room, so he decided not to go down to visit Jennifer again, he could see her when he got back from what ever their mission was.

Only one letter, obviously their mission. He pulled it out of the cubby and went straight out of the mail room and towards room 160.

---

Rita was on her way back to their room when she spotted Ewan along the way. He didn't seem to notice her as she approached.

"Hey, Ewan!"

"What? Oh its you! Hey Rita."

"Listen, you seem to know a lot of stuff, what do you know about the royal family on Oasis Island?"

"That's a bit of a random question, isn't it? Well, they run the entire island, making all the major decisions and stuff, the roll of leader being passed down to the next generation of the family. Right now the rulers are King and Queen Tropica, who've been in charge of Oasis Island for about... 30 years? That's all I know really, why'd you want to know?"

"Its a secret, and thanks."

Rita left it at that and moved on, continuing to go to her room to find Isaac and Lloyd.

"Eh, your welcome? That girl sure is something all right."

Ewan just shook his head and did the same as her, continuing to move on to where ever he was going.

---

Lloyd opened the door, which again required him to use all his strength to do, and looked inside. Both Isaac and Rita were gone, not a sign of them or where they went.

_Nothing to do but do as what that voice told me to do, time for a nap._

Lloyd crawled into bed, and immediately went to sleep.

Fifteen minutes later, Isaac opened the door and sneaked inside. He looked at both beds, Rita was gone and Lloyd was asleep.

_Perfect. He thought to himself. Once again I didn't get caught!_

Right then, the door opened again, Rita quickly came in, not closing the door behind her.

"Isaac! Where were you?"

"Uhh... Food?"

"... Whatever, get ready, we gotta go."

"Where? I have our mission right here!"

"Crud, I forgot about our mission... Uhh. Maybe you can do it yourself? This is kinda an emergency."

"Myself? But wait I..."

"Good, get ready then, I'm taking Lloyd."

Isaac just stood their, at first he was saddened about going alone, but then he got a great idea. The perfect was to get to be better friends with Jennifer.

"All righty then. See you later!"

"Its gonna be a few days, so don't freak out or anything if we're not back in two or three days ok?"

"Hehe, no problem."

Isaac went over to one of the dressers, and began to pack a bag. Meanwhile, Rita was over on her bed, holding a book. Isaac turned around and looked at her, still packing.

"Uh, what are you doing?"

"Waking up Lloyd."

She threw the book, hitting Lloyd right where his head should be. Out from under the covers, a bolt of electricity flew upward, harmlessly hitting the ceiling.

"Ah, what the heck was that?"

Lloyd got up, and everyone, including Lloyd, was shocked to see what he was. Lloyd had returned to his original form, a Pikachu.

"Whew! This is great!" Said Lloyd.

Rita was confused by his enthusiasm. "Uh, your happy you devolved? Why did you devolve anyways?"

Lloyd forgot, they never knew about him turning into a Pichu.

"Ah, nevermind, and I don't know. Don't worry though, I missed my old body anyways."

Lloyd expected Rita to continue to badger him about it, but instead she dropped the subject and pulled Lloyd out of bed.

"That's great, come on, we gotta boat to catch."

"Wait what?"

Rita didn't explain, she just pulled him out the door and closed it behind her, leaving Isaac alone once again.

_Finally, the perfect time to be alone with Jessica, I hope she says yes!_

Isaac left the room as well, a bag filled with supplies, more then enough for a single pokemon.


	19. Sibling Rivalry

Chapter 19: Sibling Rivalry

"Rita, you still haven't told me what's going on!"

"I don't really know either, just read the letter."

Rita had dragged Lloyd to a boat without any explanation at all except for repeated, useless stuff like "It's important." or "You'll see, just hurry up."

Lloyd already read the note she gave him, what he picked up from it was a royal family was looking for Chikorita's, and that they were going to a place called Oasis Island.

What ever was going on, Rita was in a hurry to get to Oasis Island, what would have been a two, maybe three day journey to the boat became an afternoon, as Rita had forced Lloyd to run most of the way, and the only thing even close to a break he got was a few minutes where he could walk instead of run.

They currently were in line to board the only boat to Oasis Island, they're tickets bought, and their packs still full of supplies they took from their room.

"Come on Rita, were stuck in this line, it's the perfect time to explain."

"Fine, fine. Lloyd, think about it, what do you think it is a royal family would have?"

"Ahh... A castle?"

"And?"

"Umm... Servants?"

"And?"

"Oh, I don't know, what?"

"Money. You saw the reward for bringing me their right? You bring me in, get the reward, they get what they need from me, we leave. Simple yes?"

"And what if it's a trap? What if its Maverick or those other two or a completely different fugitive out to get me?"

"Then why would they ask for me?"

"Because asking for me would be to obvious?"

"Gah, you're unbelievable Lloyd, just trust me, every thing is gonna be fine."

They got to the front of the line, and gave the pokemon their tickets, they got on board and were told to go to room 7, which was close to where they got on.

"Listen, if this is a trap, and we do get captured, you have to buy me dinner when we get back or something, as compensation."

"Fine! And if its not a trap and everything goes smoothly, you only get %10 of the reward!"

"Deal!"

It didn't take long to get to their room, the inside was cold, damp, and smelly. The only thing in their was a small wall mounted mirror, and two beds, each with a paper thin blanket and a flattened pillow.

"How much did those tickets cost?"

"20 poke each."

"Figures."

Lloyd could already tell this was going to be a glorious voyage, no way to entertain themselves and a room that looked less comfortable to sleep in then a cave. Lloyd went to his bed and got in, making himself as comfortable as possible.

"Wake me when we get there, running here made me exhausted."

"Ok, I guess I'll sleep to then, need all out energy when we get there."

Rita went to her bed as well, finding it to be just as uncomfortable as it looked, and the both of them went to sleep.

---

Isaac was in the back room, still no sign of Jennifer at all. He looked at the clock, it was already two in the afternoon.

He went down the stairs, to see if she was still sleeping in front of the database computer where he left her. He went straight to the computer and found she was indeed still asleep, although she had fallen off the chair and was now face first on the ground, still asleep.

"I'd better wake her."

Isaac kicked her gently with his foot, she didn't react, he did it again, she didn't react, he put his foot under her and flipped her over, no reaction at all.

"Wow, impressive."

Isaac didn't want to hurt her, so he decided to try making some noise to wake her. Hey yelled "Hey!" Into one of her ears, still nothing happened, he stomped the ground, slapped the top of the computer desk she was sleeping on, he picked up the chair and threw it into the darkness, nothing woke her up.

Then Isaac got an idea, he hoped it worked because the only other thing he could think of was splashing a bucket of water on her. He grabbed one of her feet, and tickled to bottom of her, unlike his other ideas, this got an immediate reaction. Jennifer woke up giggling hard, and she continued to do so for a few seconds after Isaac let go of her foot.

"Mmm... Oh, hey Isaac, is it time to go to the movie now?"

"Umm, Jennifer, its two in the afternoon, the next day."

"What!? Oh no, I over slept, what about the mail? I, I..."

"Don't worry, I did it all for you already."

"I... Wait, really? Wow, that's the nicest thing anybody's ever done for me."

"It was no problem really... Ok, its not as easy as I thought it would be, but the fact I helped out a friend made it worth while."

_Quit wasting time you idiot, ask her already!_

"Umm... Jennifer... I was wondering..."

"Yeah?"

"Would you like to come with me on a mission? My teammates had something else very important to do and I thought it would be a good way to get to know each other... Or something..."

"Well.. I guess if I asked my parents first, and got someone to do the mail for me tomorrow in case we don't get back... Yeah sure I'll go with you!"

_WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! All right!_

"Ahem... Yeah, that's great, I'll meet you outside then?"

"Ok, see you in a bit."

Isaac walked up the long dark stairs with a great feeling of pride, and triumph. Not only had he built up the nerves to ask her to go with on a mission, she actually said she would!

_I wonder if I can convince her to join Team Valiant? That couldn't be more perfect!_

Isaac went from the mail room straight to the main entrance of the HQ and waited there for awhile. About fifteen minutes later he saw Jennifer, carrying a bag similar to the one he and Rita had.

"I'm all ready."

"Ok, where do your parents live?"

"Just outside of town."

"Ok then, lets go!"

"Wait one sec, what's the mission anyways? You never did tell me."

Isaac realized for the first time he never looked either.

_You idiot, you brought her on a mission without knowing if it was dangerous or not!_

"Uhh, we'll read it together, at your place."

"Ok then, whatever, follow me then, its less then 10 minutes from here."

---

The Buneary's home was easy to spot, Isaac never saw anything like it in his life. It wasn't really a house, but actually a hole in the ground, surrounded by a patio like wooden floor and decorative wooden fence. In front of the only gap in the fence was a light red mailbox with painted plowers on it and the words "Buneary Family" written is bright green.

"So, you guys live in that hole?"

"Its not really a hole, its kinda like a big basement, all Buneary live in holes like that, we just made ours more civilized, like a normal house."

Without warning she jumped down the hole, Isaac looked down and could see the bottom quite clearly, Jennifer looking up at him.

"Need me to catch you or something?"

"Nah, I got this!"

Isaac jumped down, falling only about eight feet before landing very ungracefully in front of Jennifer. He landed on his feet, then immediately fell forward, going face first into the ground.

"Haha, nice jump Isaac."

Jennifer helped him stand up. When Isaac recovered from the fall, he finally took notice of his surroundings. The small square he was standing in was what you would typically find inside a hole in the wasteland, dirt and sand. But he saw the rest of the home was quite different, the main room was completely round, the floor, ceiling and walls all made of wood, and many doors lined the walls. In the middle was a huge table, one that could hold at least forty pokemon their size.

One of the many wooden doors that lined the wall opened, out of it came a Lopunny, who greeted the two of them with a warm smile.

"Hello Jen, I wasn't expecting you back this early, who's your friend?"

"My names Isaac, I'm a friend of Jennifer."

"Oh how lovely, its nice to see you making friends Jen Deary. I'm Jennifers mother, Lara, I'm afraid almost everyone is away right now. What is it you two came for?"

"Isaac wants me to go on a brotherhood mission with him! The rest of his team left for something else and he asked me to join him."

"Oh, well have you finished working today?"

"Yeah, and I was gonna ask Rina if she could cover for me tomorrow if I don't get back by then."

"Well, I don't see why not, you're certainly old enough. Rina is in her room right now."

"Thanks mom! Come on Isaac."

Jennifer grabbed onto Isaac and gently lead him to one of the doors and knocked. "Rina! Open up!"

A voice, presumably Rina's, called out from the other side of the door. "What do you want fuzzball?!"

Isaac could see the name annoyed Jennifer quite a bit, she banged on the door much harder. "I told you not to call me that, now get your butt out here!"

The door swung open, the pokemon predicably was another Buneary, this one had a tuft of fur covering one of her eyes partially, she leaned against the door with her arms crossed.

"Well?" She said. "What do you want?"

"I covered for you all weekend last week so you could go out with your boyfriend, I need you to do the mail room duties tomorrow."

"Fine, but this pays back for Saturday and Sunday."

"That's not fair! I only need you to cover me for one day, you ow me two!"

"Tough, take it or leave it fuzzball."

Isaac stepped back, he could see the fire in Jennifer's eyes when Rina repeated the word she used to bug her, he didn't want to be nearby if things went sour.

"Grrr, fine, but don't expect me to do you any favours anytime soon."

Rina didn't say anything else, she just stepped away from the door and closed it. Isaac stood there awkwardly, Jennifer kick the door and turned away.

"Come on, lets go."

Isaac prepared to follow, but another door opened behind him, out walked another Lopunny.

"Ok mom, I'm going now!" She called out, then she looked beside her and spotted Isaac standing there. "What are you doing here?"

Isaac recognized the voice, it was the secretary from the front entrance, the one Rita and Lloyd didn't know the exact name of.

"He's coming with me." Said Jennifer. "Were going somewhere."

"Ha, why would anyone wanna go out with you fuzzball?" There was that name again. Isaac expected flames to shoot out of Jennifer's ears or something.

"Don't call me that Eva! Its none of your business! Isaac, we're leaving, NOW!" Jennifer stormed off before the Lopunny, Eva, could say anything else.

"Uh, bye." Isaac said to Eva, trying to sound polite, then he ran after Jennifer. She stood at the dirt patch below the hole, waiting for him. He realized that there was no ladder or anything they could get out of the place with. Before he could ask, Jennifer grabbed him and pulled him towards her.

"Hold on." She picked him up suddenly, holding him tightly, cradling him like an oversized baby. She leaned forward slightly, Isaac knew what she was about to do, she was about to jump.

"Wait a sec Jennifer, have you done this be..." He didn't finish, Jennifer sprang into the air, but not just out of the hole, they kept going five, ten, fifteen feet into the air. The sudden burst of speed startled Isaac. They came down almost as quickly as they went up, Jennifer landed perfectly on the patio floor.

She put Isaac down on his feet, but he fell forward, dizzy from the jump.

"Sorry bout that Isaac, I usually jump a little too high when my sisters tease me like that."

He laid there in front of her, still dizzy from the jump. "Its no problem, really..."

"Now, lets read that mission shall we?"

Isaac once again forgot about the letter, he didn't feel like reading it right then, so he rolled onto his back, rummaged through his bag, and pulled it out, giving the letter to Jennifer. She read it aloud to Isaac.

_**Dear Brotherhood**_

_**I have found an egg of a pokemon, but I don't recognise what it hatches into, I think its best that you travel to my home and pick it up. Consider the egg itself your reward, I'm sure you would take care of it better then I could. You can find me on top of Mount Justice, which you can get to by going through the mystery dungeon in the tunnels of the mountain, you'll see the house I live in as soon as you're out of the mystery dungeon. Please hurry, the egg sounds like it could hatch soon and I'm no good with children.**_

_**From: Davis the Geodude**_

"This shouldn't be too hard, Mount Justice's mystery dungeon is nothing to worry about, I even know the way their. You ready?"

Isaac stood up, shook off some duct, and nodded.

"I'm ready."

"Great, can't wait to get there, I'm so excited!"

"Heh, me too."

---

Together they walked through the wasteland, not going particularly fast. Isaac decided to try to strike up a conversation, to get to know Jennifer better.

"So, your family seems interesting."

"Interesting's not the word, most of them are down right evil."

"Your mom was nice."

"Well, my parents are nice, of course, but my brothers and sisters, especially my sisters, just pick on me."

"Don't worry, that's normal, I heard sibling rivalry is very common in large familys."

"Yeah, I guess, but I wish they'd stop."

"How many brothers and sisters do you have anyways?"

"Nineteen sisters, three who have moved away, and four brothers, one of them also moved away. So right now its me, my parents, and nineteen siblings."

"Wow, is it normal for Buneary to have such large families?"

"Large?" Jennifer laughed. "You should see my uncle and aunts family. They have forty seven kids."

"Forty... Seven?"

"And that's with no twins or triplets or anything. All Buneary families are large like that, the average sized Buneary family is thirty people, counting the mother and father."

"That's amazing, I just lived with my father all my life, I don't even know what having a brother or sister is like."

"Trust me, it sucks, especially if you're one of the youngest, everything I own I get from my parents is a hand-me-down, that's why I got a job in the mail room, I needed the money to buy my own stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Books mostly, you should see my room, there's nothing in there except for my bed, and hundreds of books."

"That's awesome, I had quite a few books to, I love reading."

"Had? What do you mean had? What happened to them?"

"My home was burned down by... someone. This villain, Maverick, burned down the only home I ever knew, and killed everyone in Pipton."

"That's terrible, what happened after? Did you catch him?"

"No... No, he got away."

"I'm so sorry, that's terrible."

"Don't worry about it, ever since I met y..."

_Don't tell her that! Its to early to reveal your feelings to her._

"Even since I met Rita and Lloyd I haven't thought about it that much, they really supported me when it all happened. I wasn't really happy anyways, I never really made friends there."

"Well, that's good, I don't know what I would do if that happened to me. You're a real cool guy Isaac."

_Wow, a compliment!_

"Thanks, you too."

They walked over a hill and saw their destination. The large, brown mountain was only fifteen minutes away.

"There it is." Said Jennifer. "Lets continue our discussion later, shall we?"

"Right, lets kick some wild pokemon butt!"

Isaac ran towards the mountain, Jennifer ran after him, trying to catch up.

"Haha, wait up!"


	20. Shadows at War

Chapter 20: Shadows at War

Lloyd woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. He felt horrible, his stomach was in a great amount of pain and he had a terrible headache. He felt like he just woke up from a brutal beating.

He got out of the small bed and walked over to the mirror that hung from a wall in their room. He could barely see his face, the mirror was covered in dust and the room was nearly pitch black.

The pain all over his body suddenly got worse, to the point where Lloyd had to lean against the wall to avoid falling over. He thought he heard voices in his head, but they weren't clear enough to understand, they sounded like they were normal voices being spoken from miles away.

_Maybe some cool night air will help me..._

Lloyd stumbled over to the door and opened it, immediately he got blasted with a spray of water, he saw it was raining heavily, thunder could be heard booming in the distance. Lloyd didn't care about the rain, he certainly wasn't going to make himself feel better in his room.

The pain suddenly became intense, bringing Lloyd to his knees. It felt like he was on fire, burning intensely despite the storm. He yelled into the night, but his was voice was silent compared to the raging storm.

_What's happening... to me..._

Lloyd began to lose consciousness, he tried to stay awake, not wanting to fall asleep in the storm on the deck of the ship, but he couldn't do anything to stop it. He fell over onto his stomach, his body spread across the ground, and slowly blacked out.

---

"Boss, I've spotted the target, he just left his cabin and he's alone."

"Good, capture him immediately."

"Wait, something's happening to him... It looks like he's having a heart attack or something, he's on the ground screaming his lungs out."

"Oh dear, looks like its happening again. You'll have to hurry before he turns, good luck."

"Wait a sec, what do you mean..."

But it was to late, the boss had hung up.

"Figures... Listen you two..."

The pokemon spoke to Raticate and Gastly, who stood nearby trying to hide under a small ledge to avoid the rain, unfortunately the wind blew in their direction so the ledge did nothing to shield them..

"You two wait here. I don't need either of you getting in the way." Without waiting for a response, she jumped down to the deck where Lloyd had collapsed, disappearing into the shadows.

Raticate stood there shivering next to Gastly, his fur soaked. "I really hate this job."

"You and me both." Replied Gastly.

---

Lloyd got up, feeling much better, the pain was gone, in fact, he felt better then he'd even felt before, even when he was evolved into Raichu. Lloyd looked at himself to see if he evolved, what he saw was unbelievable, his body was shaped like his evolution, but his body was completely black, ever blacker because of a dark smoke that covered his body, the smoke reminded him of the body of a Gastly.

_What... Am I?_

"_You are the all consuming darkness, the one others wish not to exist in this fragile world of theirs..."_

_Wait, who are you?_

"_I am you, I am your shadow, and I am Shadow. I am always with you, as you are always with me."_

_Do you know what's happening? What have I become?_

"_Your still you, and you always will be, your just being replaced is all, for awhile at least."_

_Replaced? By who?_

"_By me."_

The pain returned, a thousand times as bad as before. But instead of falling over, weakened from it like before, he felt himself getting angry, very angry. He balled his paws into fists, so hard he felt like he was going to hurt himself. Involuntarily, he unleashed a bolt of lightning straight into the sky, more powerful then he'd ever been able to produce before.

He turned around, again involuntarily, raised his arm, and fired a thunder bolt attack at a lone crate sitting at the end of the deck. The box exploded into a shower of splinters, Lloyds instinct was to run and hide from the wooden shards, but his body wouldn't obey. The splinters harmless bounced off his body, none of them causing any cuts or getting stuck in his skin.

"_Your mine now, your body is for me to control once again."_

_Again? You've done this before?_

"_Oh yes! Remember the day you woke up in that alley and heard about the dark, red eyed pokemon who killed so many? Remember the day another was spotted inside the brotherhood? That was us, your body, me in control."_

_That means... I'm the murderer? I killed the people of Havok City?_

"_Yes and no, I'm sure if you were in control, you probably wouldn't have done it. You weren't though, your body is the murderer, but your mind is innocent. Now be the good little slave you are and be quiet, I'm going to have a little fun!"_

Lloyd wanted to say more, ask more, maybe even try to stop this "Shadow" from killing anyone, but he couldn't. He felt like his brain was shutting down, like falling asleep, but somehow different.

"_Don't worry, you can have this body back when I'm done. There is such thing as too much fun."_

Lloyd couldn't control his body, couldn't speak and couldn't even think. Lloyd was gone now, only the Shadow remained.

"Finally free, its so boring being trapped inside this body."

Shadow heard a noise behind him, someone was sneaking around.

"Oh good, my first playmate, why don't you come out where I can see you?"

But the pokemon didn't, instead, out of the darkness, a bright wall of fire came straight at Shadow. It was powerful, even powerful enough to hurt him, he avoided the fire by jumping into the air, landing onto the upper deck of the ship.

"Oh goody, looks like you came to play as well, this should be fun."

"I didn't come here to play at all."

Shadow heard the voice behind him and in no time unleashed a thunder bolt in the shadows where the sound came from. But when the attack lit up the area, there was nothing.

"I came to take you back to your master."

The voice came from the side, so Shadow unleashed another thunderbolt in that direction. The flash from the blast once again revealed nothing.

"And there's nothing you can do to stop me."

The voice came from above this time, Shadow didn't expect that because nothing was above him except a stormy sky, the pokemon must have jumped.

Shadow looked up and saw another fire attack come straight down on top of him. He couldn't dodge it in time so he was engulfed in the flame, once the fire stopped his attacker landed on top of him, bringing him straight to the ground. It then jumped off Shadow, disappearing again into the darkness.

Based on the voice, Shadow knew it was definitely a woman, and whoever this woman was, she was definitely a well trained fighter.

"Your pretty good." He yelled out, not knowing where she was. "No telling what your capable of when your not being rained on like this. I didn't think a fire type could fight this well in a storm."

"Should be obvious I'm no normal pokemon."

_I have you now!_

He fired a thunder bolt into the air, as he predicted it hit his attacker. The pokemon attempted to jump over him again while he was busy trying to hit where she was. Injured, she landed hard onto the ground on the lower deck of the ship.

"Haha, that was indeed fun. To bad we cant do it again."

Shadow intended to finish off the pokemon, he jumped down to where she should have landed, but she was gone without a trace. He could barely hear her running away at a speed he wouldn't be able to follow.

"Another time them?! Oh well, I'm sure there's more pokemon to have my fun with on this ship. The Chikorita Lloyds always hanging around should be quite entertaining!"

"_Your not going to hurt anyone else Shadow. Your going back to where you belong."_

"Oh, I remember you, your the voice that keeps helping my other half. What are YOU going to do that could possibly stop me?"

"_This."_

The orb of light appeared, Shadow laughed.

"This is your weapon of choice? You going to blind me or something? Hahahaha!"

The orb went over to Shadow and entered his body. Shadow suddenly went limp and fell forward.

"What... have you done to me?"

"_What better way to get rid of a shadow then to shed light on it?"_

"Augh... I'll be back... You can't stop me forever!"

The shadow like fog around Lloyds body drifted away, disappearing. Shadow turned from his dark, evil form and became a normal looking Raichu, then soon after devolved into Pikachu again. Shadow had lost control of Lloyd once again, giving control of his body back to its proper master.

---

Lloyd awoke hours later, the storm ended, the night now day. He got up, not feeling any pain from last night at all. He looked around and saw no signs of anybody around, and saw no signs of his transformation except scorch marks in the wooden panels of the deck, almost completely washed away by the rain, and the ruined remains of the empty crate Shadow tested his power on, many of its shards already washed away off the edge of the ship.

_I can't believe it, Shadow are you there? Answer me!_

But Lloyd didn't hear his voice, whether it was because he was gone or because he didn't feel like answering, Lloyd couldn't tell.

_How about you, what or whoever you are with the glowing ball thing. Who are you and why are you helping me?_

Again, silence, the voice didn't respond to him at all.

"Why is all this happening to me?!"

"What's happening to you?"

Rita snuck up behind Lloyd, scaring him. Lloyd looked embarrassed, knowing he must have looked crazy yelling out to voices only he heard. In fact when he thought about it, crazy was probably where he was going and why he was hearing voices.

"Umm... nothing, just talking to myself?"

Lloyd said it like it was a question, he looked at Rita, and Rita looked at him, they shared an awkward silence together.

"Anyways..." Rita said, trying to change the subject. "We're here, we'd better hurry up and get to this castle. The ships going back to the mainland soon"

Lloyd nodded. "Yeah, ok, lets go."

Rita led the way off the ship, Lloyd following behind thinking to himself, not really paying attention.

_I can't tell her about last night, she'd think I lost my mind, and if she did believe me... I don't know what she'd do... I don't know what I should do... I should ask someone, anyone, before it happens again._

---

"Master E..."

"Don't say my name! Who knows what spies are nearby!"

Raticate looked around, trying to spot the spies she spoke of, he didn't see anything. "Sorry Master, I'm just wondering what we should do now, your injured and we know we can't take them on our selves!"

Raticate stood there waiting for an answer, his new master stood their for a moment to think. Raticate and Gastly got closer, waiting for her orders.

"That Chikorita... I recognize her... Yes, I think I got it now. We're going back with the boat, we've got a trap to set, those two are going to come straight to us."

---

Rita and Lloyd looked at Oasis Island, amazed by its beauty. Unlike the wastleland they were used to, with its endless plains of sand, dirt and dust, with barely any trees at all to be found, Oasis island was completely lush with plant life.

There was long, green grass growing everywhere, trees larger then either could imagine, going at least thirty feet into the air, all of them covered in leaves as green as the grass below. Oasis Island couldn't be more different then the wasteland they came from, it was like the ship took them to another world.

"Wow..." Lloyd was speechless, he never even knew such a place existed, he figured the entire world was as dead as the wasteland was.

"You know..." Started Rita. "Even if this is a trap, it'd be worth the trip."

"Yeah, even still we should be careful."

They both jumped from the boat onto a stone dock, they were the only ones to get off here. As soon as they stepped off the boats engines started up, and the boat began to head out to its next destination.

"Does your map tell us where anything is here?"

Rita opened up her bag and pulled out the map, she looked for a moment and tap the bottom of the map.

"Yup, its here, and according to the map, the castle is just north of here."

"Well, lets not waist time here, and I'm sure there's lots more to see on the way anyways."

---

Lurking in the bushes nearby were two pokemon, hiding in the shadows watching as Rita and Lloyd walked passed.

"It can't be... Is that...?"

"It must be, it looks just like her."

"This is terrible, we must report back right away!"

Not making a sound as they went, the two pokemon disappeared into the lush forest.

---

The forest surrounding Lloyd and Rita got thicker and thicker as they continued down the narrow dirt path, eventually the trees above them blocked out the sun and the sky, making the forest cool and dark.

"Think there's any wild pokemon here?"

"I don't know, my map didn't have any mystery dungeons on it for here, but I guess its possible for some to live in the forest."

Suddenly they heard a rustling in the grass, something was coming towards them.

"Stay back Rita, there's no telling what it could be!"

They stood there and waited for the approaching creature, ready to attack if it ended up being hostile. The rustling got louder and louder until the pokemon finally revealed itself. It was a Caterpie.

Rita exhale deeply. "Whew, nothing to worry about it seems, just a little Caterpie."

"Excuse me." It said. "Its rude to give such negative titles to people like that."

"Oh." Said Rita. "Your not a wild pokemon?"

"Most certainly not, I am a servant of the King and am here to escort the both of you the rest of the way."

"Wait a sec." Said Lloyd. "King? I thought it was King and Queen... Something."

"Tropica." Finished Rita.

"Right, that."

"Oh dear no." Said the Caterpie. "They haven't ruled for almost 15 years now. But I understand your confusion, not much news from here reaches the mainland. Oh dear, I forgot to formally introduce myself. My name is Regal, and I am in the service of the current ruler, King Noah."

"My names Lloyd, of Team Valiant."

"And I'm Rita, also from Team Valiant, and I'm the one you guys are looking for."

"Well yes, I know that." Replied Regal. "Its why I'm here, isn't it? Now there's no time to waste, follow me you two!"

Not waiting a second, Regal inched his way back into the grass where he came, Rita and Lloyd followed, having trouble wadding through the tall brush.

---

Meanwhile, Isaac and Jennifer had just entered Mount Justice. The rocky tunnels were very dark, Isaac couldn't see more then a few feet in front of him.

"Now what? I can't see a thing in there."

"You didn't bring a light or something?"

Isaac was a bit embarrassed, a light was an essential tool for exploration. "Sorry, no I didn't."

"Don't worry, I have something right here." She reached into her bag and pulled out a small metal lantern. She also pulled out two small, smooth rocks. "One sec..." She put the lantern on the ground and knelled over it, she took the stones and hit them against each other right near the lantern. The stones shot sparks with each strike, eventually one of the sparks went inside the lantern and lit it. The fire was bright enough they could see all the way down the tunnel to the far wall, at least thirty feet from where they stood. "There, no problem!"

A pokemon suddenly came at them, obviously attracted by the light.

"Great." Said Jennifer. "That didn't take long."

The pokemon was a Aron, it growled at them threateningly.

"Here hold this." She forced the lantern over to Isaac, but Isaac, lacking fingers to grip it with, dropped the lantern, putting out the light.

Isaac knelled down to pick it up, and heard sounds of fighting in the tunnel.

_Is that Jennifer being attacked by the Aron? Oh man, I gotta help!_

He picked up the lantern, but realized he had nothing to light it with. He grabbed two rocks off the ground, hoping to replicate what Jennifer had done to light it before. But when he struck the rocks together, they didn't spark.

The sound of fighting stopped, and Isaac heard the sound of footsteps coming towards him.

"No... Stay back!"

The footsteps got closer and closer until they stopped in front of Isaac. He stood there, not knowing what to do. Suddenly he heard two crack sounds from rocks being struck together, and the lantern igniting again, revealing the approaching footsteps to belong to Jennifer. Isaac looked behind her and saw the Aron laying on the ground, fainted.

"Wow, what did you do?"

"What you missed it? Sucks to be you then, you'll have to wait till the next one to see me in action." She winked at him, took the lantern and went ahead. Isaac stood there for a moment shocked at what just happened, then ran after her.

"No really, what did you do? Come on, tell me!"

---

On the next floor, they encountered another Aron. Isaac waited for her to attack, wanting to see her in action, but she stepped aside.

"Your turn." She said.

"But... I wanna..."

"I got the last one, so its your turn."

_She's doing this on purpose, she's teasing me! Wait a sec... That's a good thing, isn't it?_

Isaac stepped forward, the Aron growled at him as he approached. He decided to use bubble to take it down, he breathed in for a second and exhaled quickly, causing him to shoot out multiple bubbles straight at Aron. Each one hit it squarely in the head, the last one sending it flying back, landing in a heap, unconscious. Jennifer clapped behind him.

"Very nice, ten out of ten."

"Haha, thanks."

Suddenly Isaac felt a sharp pain in his left wing, the Aron wasn't unconscious as he had thought, and it was now biting him hard. Isaac, swung it around, beating against the wall, until it lost its grip and dropped to the floor. Enraged, Isaac ran over to it and kicked it across the room, this time it actually had been knocked out.

"I think I'll change my score. Negative Two."

"Ah, I'll take it."

They shared a laugh at Isaacs expense.

"Well." Said Jennifer. "Lets keep going, maybe next time you'll actually take one down without being chomped on like a chew toy."

---

The third floor was uneventful, but on the forth floor they saw something neither of them expected. While it hadn't noticed them, it wouldn't be long before it did. Right next to both of them was a sleeping Onix that they didn't notice until it was too late.

"Now what?" Asked Isaac.

"Wake it up and beat it up!"

Before Isaac could stop her, Jennifer went up to it and kick it right in the head not once, but three times. Isaac looked at her horrified.

"What? Just because its big doesn't mean its that tough."

"No, Jennifer, thats EXACTLY what it means. Now hurry up and get away..."

But Isaac was interrupted by an earth shacking roar, the Onix had woken up, and was now upright, towering over the both of them.

"Maybe your right Isaac, lets find out together shall we?"

_Wow, Jennifer's amazing, if we survive this, I'm marrying her one day!_

The Onix roared again, no matter who was right, Isaac knew this would be one heck of a fight.


	21. King Noah

Chapter 21: King Noah

The castle of Oasis Island was just as amazing as the island itself. The walls were enormous, made of giant white stone bricks, and the huge steel front gate was large enough for pretty much any pokemon to fit through.

Two guards stood on top of the wall, one on each side of the gate. They spotted Rita, Lloyd and Regal as soon as they came out from the forest into the open plain in front of the gate.

The guard on the right side called down to them. "What do you guys want? This is private property!"

Regal yelled back, but his tiny Caterpie voice wasn't very loud. "Its me you fool, open the gate immediately!"

"... What?!"

"I said open the gate!"

"... Speak up I can't hear you!"

Regal closed his eyes and sighed. "Good help is hard to come by these days, give me a second."

Regal went to the wall and crawled up it like it was tree, he moved surprisingly fast, it took him less then a minute to reach the top. Rita and Lloyd waited a second and saw something falling off the wall, it was the guard. Up close Rita and Lloyd saw that it was a Grovyle, the fall didn't seem to hurt it to bad , it either was used to it or it was a very strong pokemon.

The gate opened slowly, the Grovyle pointed towards the gate, still lying on his back. "Uhh... You guys can go in now."

Speechlessly they walked in, but before they actually got to the gate, Regal jumped down right in front of them, startling them both. He was completely unfazed by the fall, Regal was definitely a lot stronger then he looked.

"This way, if you please." He said to them. The three of them walked on, once they passed through the gate it closed behind them, leaving them trapped inside the castles walls.

"You know what Lloyd, I'm beginning to think this was a bad idea."

"That's great, wait until we can't escape before you use common sense."

"Excuse me?" Said Regal. "Did either of you say something?"

"Uh no, nothing at all!" Rita replied quickly.

They kept walking until they reached the largest building within the castle walls, the keep, located right in the centre of the entire complex. The interior of the keep was also defended by an enormous gate, this time two doors made of wood that opened by being pushed open, this gate also having guards at each side, both of them Grovyles evolved form, Sceptile. When they spotted Regal they immediately opened the gate, making a loud, heavy creak as it got pushed in.

"Listen you two." Said Regal as they walked inside the massive structure. "Do not speak unless spoken to, the King has a very nasty temper and it'd be most unfortunate if you mad him angry."

The inside of the keep was amazing, the main hall was massive, the ceiling seemed to go on forever, the walls were covered in expensive looking paintings and tapestries all with grass type pokemon on them, the floor was made of marble, as was clean enough to eat off of. The only thing in the room that filled the large amount of space was a line of pillars going from the entrances all the way to the other side, each pillar was huge, about the size of an Onix standing straight up. At the far end of the keep was a pair of thrones sitting on top of a pyramid of stairs, one empty, one being sat on by the King himself, a rather frightening looking Venusaur.

Regal picked up the pace, moving as fast as he could, Rita and Lloyd had no trouble keeping up. Regal didn't stop until they reached the bottom of the stairs where the thrones were.

"Greetings sire, I brought her, just as you asked."

King Noah looked bored and completely uninterested in them. "Yeah, yeah, bring her here so I can get a good look, need to be sure its her."

Rita knew he was talking about her, she looked at the king, still looking completely bored, and yet was still very scary looking. She stepped in front of him, looking up at him, seeing he was even more scary up close. His face was the worst, covered in huge scars, most notably the one across his right eye, which was bigger then what she could possibly imagine, even a Scyther couldn't create such a large cut.

"Come closer, I need to see you closely." He said to her in a booming voice. Rita didn't want to get any closer then where she already was standing, but she obeyed him, walking slowly towards the kings throne.

When she got a certain distance away from the king, he leaned forward, looking straight into her eyes.

"Green... Like emeralds shining in the sunlight... You're definitely her." He leaned back into his throne. "Guards, take her away now, she's the one."

Before either Lloyd or Rita could do anything, two nearby Sceptile guards swooped in and grabbed a hold of Rita, restraining her.

"What are you doing!?" She screamed. "Let go of me!"

"Hey!" Yelled Lloyd. "What's going on, what do you want with her?!"

King Noah laughed. "We've been looking for this girl since before she was even born, why is none of your business. Now, are you going to fight us or stand down and take your reward?"

Lloyd didn't know what to do, he couldn't just let them imprison Rita, but getting himself thrown in with her wouldn't help. He looked at Rita, still struggling in the grip of the Sceptile guards. "Go on without me Lloyd, don't fight you can't win!"

She was right, Lloyd hated the fact, but there was nothing he could do. He lowered his head, staring at the ground, and allowed the guards to pass him as they carried Rita away.

_I told you Rita... We should never have come here... Why?_

"Now, Regal, give this one his reward and send him off, I'm bored of this." The King sat back and relaxed, as if what just happened never happened at all. Regal crawled behind the throne and came back with a small bag, the sound of coins shaking inside. Regal dropped it in front of Lloyd.

"Wait a sec, isn't this a little small a bag for ten million poke?"

"Obviously you've never seen a platinum poke before then? Open up the bag."

Lloyd looked inside, instead of normal, dull yellow coins. The bag was full a shiny white coins, they were so polished he could see his face in each individual coin like they were a bunch of tiny mirrors.

"Each one of those is worth one hundred thousand poke each." Explained Regal. "You know how full our vaults would be if we used typical currency? Even in this massive castle we wouldn't have room to walk!" He pushed Lloyd towards the front entrance. "Now, you have your money, please be of with you right away."

---

Lloyd couldn't believe what just happened as he walked out of Oasis Castles keep. His first, and, until meeting Isaac, only friend was just taken away from him, and there was nothing he could do. He didn't even want the money, in fact he was having second thoughts about not turning around and beating up the King until the guards captured him as well.

He went all the way out of the castle, the large metal gate closing down behind him. He couldn't think straight, so he decided to walk to the dock and wait for the boat to return, even if it wasn't coming for another two days.

It was night by the time he reached the dock, he immediately went over to the edge and sat down, his feet hanging over the water. He had forgotten everything that had happened before Rita was captured. He forgot about Shadow, the voice in his head, his memory, all he cared about right then and there was Rita.

"_Oh Lloyd, what ever has you down on this fine night?"_

It was Shadow.

_You... Don't even talk to me you horrible..._

"_Now, now, no need for name calling. I wanted to help is all, it would favour us both after all."_

_What are you talking about?_

"_Rita, I know you care about her, you can't hide the fact from me. You couldn't do anything to help her, but I could."_

_What do you mean?_

"_Isn't it obvious? I'm stronger then you, and I can disappear into this wonderful darkness without any effort at all!"_

_And what would be in it for you?_

"_Again, should be obvious, that castle is full of new toys for me to play with, all I ask is you let me out of my pen so I can entertain myself."_

_You want to kill everyone inside the castle? I can't let you do that... Wait a sec, why do you need my permission in the first place?_

"_Your friend, whoever she is, when she used that little glowing ball to seal me away, I lost any ability I had to take over your body by force, at least for a while, so if I'm going to have my fun, I need you to allow me to take control."_

_And you'll spare Rita? You'll set her free?_

"_Of course, what would be the point? I'd have hundred of other toys to play with, I wouldn't even need your little friend."_

_... I don't know... I..._

"_Listen Lloyd, you have no choice in the matter, either let me help you, or poor little Rita will spend the rest of her fragile little life in jail... Or worse."_

_What do you mean worse? What could be worse then that?_

"_Such a simpleton, they wanted her very badly, badly enough to ask for help from people they consider peasants. She is either very important, or did something very bad, there's the possibility they want to execute her."_

_No... It can't be!_

"_Oh, it can be, and given the evidence it is likely. But then again, you are talking to a bloodthirsty murderer, so perhaps its just me who would come to such a conclusion."_

As if things couldn't be worse, now there was the possibility of Rita being killed. But he didn't want to trust Shadow, he couldn't, he knew he probably wouldn't keep his word and kill Rita himself.

_No... I'm not doing it, there's a another way and I'll find it!_

"_So pathetic, you are and always will be a fool, soon you will realize that."_

Lloyd didn't have to ask, he knew Shadow was gone, or at least, had stopped listening. He didn't really fully understand his bond with him, and there was no time to think about it now. Lloyd stood up and walked off the dock, stepping on the cool grass again.

"Now what?"

Lloyd heard a rustling in the trees nearby, it sounded like someone was hiding from him.

"Who's there?_"_

Nobody answered, the surrounding forest was quiet again except for the faint chirps of unseen bug pokemon. He got closer to the tree line, looking into the darkness, searching for whatever could be spying on him.

He looked around, but didn't see anyone there. He turned around, about to walk back to the path when he heard another noise. He turned around quickly, not expecting to see what he saw. A pokemon stood over him, and before he could react, put a large cloth bag over his head and swept him off his feet, it picked him up and began to carry him into the dark forest.

---

Rita was thrown inside a damp cell, the door closed as soon as she landed on the ground. The guards said nothing to her and left, leaving her alone and confused inside the prison cell. She looked around, the cell was similar to the cabin in the ship they came in, except much larger and much dirtier.

She was lucky, they never took her bag, so she had all the supplies they brought on the trip with her. But since escape orbs only work in mystery dungeons, the only thing that was useful was the food. She didn't want anything to be confiscated from her, so she took out one, small apple and threw the rest under the bed, well hidden. She sat on the bed, which was even less comfortable then the bed she slept in on the boat, and began to eat the apple.

_What to do, what to do... I bet Lloyds worried about me right now. Man I wish he was here right now..._

She sat inside the cell, looking out the small barred window above and kept eating. When she finished she layed down in the bed, covered herself up as comfortably as she could, and went to sleep.


	22. Royal Blood

Chapter 23 will be the last chapter for quite a while. This week coming is exams, which I need to study for, and the week after I have no school (where I get all my work done.) Since I still have tons of games I wanna play, I wont be doing any of the story at home, so don't expect any new chapters until February 2nd at the earliest.

Chapter 22: Royal blood

Lloyd didn't know what was going on or who had taken him, he couldn't see anything with the bag over his head and he knew nothing of the island itself. Was it a bandit out for his reward from the castle? Was it another fugitive out to capture him like Zar and Maverick had tried to do?

After about an hour, his captor finally stopped somewhere in the forest. Lloyd could hear many voices around him, a bright orange light, like from a fire, shined through the bag. Someone grabbed the bag and pulled it off his head, his kidnapper put him back on his feet.

He was surrounded by grass type pokemon, all staring at him. He was brought to some kind of camp in the forest, the only illumination came from the blazing fire nearby.

"What do you want with me?" He asked, not speaking to any specific person.

One of them stepped forward, it was a Meganium, Chikorita's final evolutionary form. It looked at him accusingly, like he just got caught stealing something.

"What were you doing in the castle?" She asked, ignoring Lloyds question.

"My friend wanted to go, she dragged me there."

"Liar! My scouts saw you go in with a Chikorita, and come out alone with this!" She kicked the bag that contained his ten million poke reward, the shining coins spilling out across the dirt. "Why were you in the castle?!"

"I told you! Rita dragged me here! Its not my fault!"

"Who is Rita?"

"My friend, the Chikorita, we met a few days ago in the wasteland!"

The Meganium stopped looking angry now a look of concern on her face. "This isn't good...."

"What do you mean?"

She looked angry again. "That's none of your concern, you need to leave this island right away!"

"I can't leave without Rita! I refuse!"

"Hey, hey, hey everyone, what's going on here?" The voice didn't come from either of them, instead it came from a totally new voice that Lloyd recognized. He looked in the direction he heard the voice, he saw the green shelled Squirtle he had met going to Pipton, and then later in Tesla Depths.

"What are you doing here?" Both Lloyd and the Meganium asked.

"I could ask you the same thing Lloyd, everywhere I seem to be, you are as well."

"Who is this squirtle?" The Meganium asked Lloyd.

"We met him a few times... He lost his memory and is looking for something... Right?"

"That's exactly right, but once again my search was for nothing. I was on my way to the dock to wait for the boat when I saw you get nabbed, so the good guy I am just had to follow and make sure you were ok. Your welcome by the way."

"Wait a second!" Said Meganium, directed towards Squirtle. "You know this guy, do you know if he has a Chikorita friend?"

"Oh yeah, I know her, she rescued him from the bottom of a mystery dungeon a little over a week ago, haven't seen them separated since."

"See?" Said Lloyd. "I told you she was my friend!"

"Fine, fine, so you're her friend, but that still doesn't mean you wouldn't have betrayed her for the money!"

"I keep telling you! She was the one who dragged me along, I didn't want to go because I knew it was a trap!"

"And how did you know it was a trap, hmm? Awfully good of a guess."

"Its not the first time, trust me, I've had four different pokemon try to capture me, and without Rita's help they would have succeeded long ago."

"Listen there, miss whoever-you-are..." The Squirtle said. "I've never seen two pokemon been through so much together in such a short time, you might not trust him, but I trust him enough to know he wouldn't do that to anyone!"

Everyone went silent, the only sound came from the crackling fire next to them. A few moments passed, and Meganium began to speak, the anger in her voice gone.

"Listen, Umm..."

"Lloyd."

"Lloyd... I apologize, it was wrong of me to accuse you so quickly. This is that false kings fault, not yours. How about you and your friend stay the night? We can't offer much for bedding, but we'll do all we can."

"Thanks I guess." Said Lloyd. "What's your name anyways?"

"Meryl, now please, you both must be tired at this late hour, lets discuss everything tomorrow."

---

Lloyd was laying on a thin mattress in a small teny, he couldn't sleep after so much had happened.

_Who are these people anyways?_

It was obvious they opposed the king, and after meeting with him, Lloyd figured that wasn't a bad thing.

Lloyd heard the flap of his tent being opened, so he sat up to see who it was. It was the Meganium, Meryl.

"Umm, hey?" Lloyd said, confused that she came to see him.

"Hey... Umm, I really couldn't wait for tomorrow to ask this, could you tell me what Rita is like, how you would describe her?"

"That came out of nowhere... Why do you wanna know so bad? You know her or something?"

"Yes... Very much so." Meryl looked away from Lloyd for a second, looking like she was staring off in the distance. "Just, please, what is she like?"

"Well..." He thought for a moment. "She's... It's hard to describe her really. She's nice most of the time, a great friend. But she had a bit of a temper, and she's kinda overly obsessed with money and stuff, and she's really reckless at times."

"That Squirtle said that she rescued you from a mystery dungeon, is this true?"

"Yep, I was unconscious all the way down in the basement of some ruins, Rita supposedly brought me up and all the way to town by herself by carrying me on her back. But I don't remember anything from before that, my memory is completely gone."

"That's awful, but I'm glad to hear Rita turned out to be such a wonderful girl."

"Ok, I told you about her, I think it'd be fair if you'd tell me how you know Rita, and why you care about her so much."

"Well... Ok." Meryl took a deep breath. "I'm... I'm her mother."

"Your Rita's mom? Why are you here then?"

"On Oasis Island, and not in the wasteland like her? Its a long story."

"I have time, go ahead."

"Well... It all started sixteen years ago..."

---

One seemingly normal day, I was visited by an unexpected guest.

In the nearby swamp, there was many rumours of a witch who lived somewhere deep within it. Nobody ever saw her before, and the swamp was far too dangerous to go into, so nobody ever confirmed the rumour.

The guest that came to see me was that same witch, who came to me with a warning.

"You must leave with your daughter immediately," She said to me, "you are in grave danger!"

"Why should I believe you? Your just some crazy old loon!"

The witch didn't debate with me, instead she just placed her hand on my head, and suddenly I saw a vision, like a dream. In it, I saw me, my newborn daughter and my husband, murdered by King Noah himself.

The images were horrifying, and felt so real.

I took my daughter and went to find my husband, but like in the vision the witch had shared with me, he was murdered, right before our eyes. There was nothing I could have done to save him.

I ran as fast as I could, with my daughter, and ran to the docks where I just barely managed to catch the last ship leaving the island for quite a while.

Once nightfall came, a great storm came with it. The ship rocked back and forth from the huge waves that the wind created, and the rain was so heavy, so thick, you couldn't see more then a few feet from the ship.

I thought nothing of it, dismissing it as just simple rain, but eventually, there was thunder and lighting as well. It crashed and banged, the sounds getting louder and louder. Eventually one bolt of lightning hit the ship, both me and my daughter fell overboard and the ship sank. I managed to find an intact lifeboat floating nearby, but I couldn't find my daughter anywhere, I feared that she was lost along with the ship.

By the time I reached the shores of the wasteland region, it was morning. There was no chance in my mind that my daughter would have survived, I was sure that she was dead. I spent weeks living in an inn located in a nearby town I came across.

I didn't leave until I heard from some travellers that there was a new king, King Noah. I knew I had to change this, to dethrone him no matter what, even if it costed me my life.

At first I planned to never return, to forget about my life on Oasis Island, and live in wasteland for the rest of my life. But I realized that it was a cowardly thing to do, I realized I couldn't just leave like that. I returned as soon as a new ship came to take passengers to Oasis Island, and boarded it.

A few years passed, I gathered up as many people as I could who also hated the king, and created the "Oasis Renegades", these people here, a group who's sole purpose is to one day return the throne to its rightful heir.

How I found out my daughter was alive wasn't a very complicated story. Two days ago, I listened to the radio, specifically PNR. The radio station had been offline for sometime, Kane congratulated three pokemon from the Brotherhood with fixing everything. Kane has always been known as a lady's man, so he took quite a bit more time describing Rita then either of you two.

"... And lastly, the young, the beautiful Rita. A Chikorita with some of the most gorgeous eyes I've ever seen, green and shining like emeralds, a very special thanks goes out to you from me and all my fans. Now, on to today's news..."

It was the green eyes, both me and my husband had them too. I was sure it was her, It had to be. It wasn't long before a Renegade scout came to me, telling me that he heard that the king was looking for the same Chikorita from the Brotherhood, which made me sure that this Chikorita, Rita, was my lost daughter.

---

"And that's all I know, I have no idea how she survived the storm. And I don't know how she survived the wasteland at such a young age."

"There's one thing I'm confused about... Why did King Noah want to kill you and Rita anyways? Did you do something to make him mad or something?"

"No, it is because I am, or at least I was, the queen of Oasis Island. King Noah wanted to kill the three of us so he could steal the throne, and become the new king."

Lloyd couldn't believe his ears. "Wait, that means that Rita is... A princess?"

"Yes, and eventually, she would also become the new queen to replace me."

"Wow... That's incredible!"

"I want to thank you Lloyd, for telling me about her, I never got to know her and even though I'll never get the chance to raise her myself, it makes me glad to know she's doing well."

"Its no problem, I didn't know much about her either... But wow, a princess!"

Meryl laughed. "You'd best be getting some sleep Lloyd."

Meryl went outside and closed the flap. The tent was empty again, Lloyd layed back down, looking up at the top of the tent.

_I can't believe it, Rita of all people, royalty! I wonder how she'll react when she finds out? I'm gonna make sure I get to see that reaction, I'm doing anything I can to save her. Not just for me, but for her mother too, Rita will be freed._


	23. Fall of the False King

Chapter 23: Fall of the False King

Lloyd woke up the next morning, his back aching from lying on the stiff ground with only a thin, stiff mattress between them. He heard a lot of talking nearby, so he decided to get up right away in case it somehow involved him.

He went outside and saw literally everyone in the camp gathered together, in the same place where Lloyd was interrogated the night before. He joined the circle of pokemon to listen to what was being said.

Meryl stood in the centre of the circle, half way finished giving a speech to everyone around her.

"... King Noah didn't want to command over this nation because he cared for its people, no, he only cared about the power and money. This island could sink to the bottom of the sea for he cared, as long as he had a boat full of poke ready to leave for safety. I say that we return the title to someone who cares not of themselves, return the throne to the true heirs of the crown. Today is last day of King Noahs rule over us! We have a plan to get into the castle, and once we're inside they don't stand a chance against us! My daughter, Rita, by some miracle, survived the merciless sea, the unforgiving wasteland, and still managed to become the perfect young woman that she was always meant to be, lets not let a cowardly false king be the death of her!"

She looked over and saw Lloyd standing there, she went over to him and pushed him to the centre of the circle.

"Hey! What are you..."

"This young man is our ticket inside! He owes my daughter his life, its time we help him pay her back! Now, this will be a dangerous mission, some of you might not be there when we celebrate our victory, but rest assured we will have it, and your name will be remembered by the people of Oasis Island until the end of time! Who is with me!"

Dozens of voices called out, all of them agreeing to help, all of them cheering for their queen.

"Umm... Meryl?" Said Lloyd.

"Yes? What is it?"

"How exactly do you expect me to get us inside the castle?"

---

"Excuse me! Hellooooo!"

Lloyd stood at the walls gate, calling up to the guards that stood up top. One of them looked over the corner and saw him.

"Yes? What is it?"

"The king made a mistake, he gave me too much money for my reward, I thought it be the honest thing to do and return the extra coins to him!"

"Umm... One second!"

The guard disappeared, a few seconds later the gate opened about half way, and the guards both came down to see Lloyd.

"We shall give the money to him right away. I'll be sure to mention that you returned it."

Lloyd went to hand the Grovyle the bag of coins, when he grabbed the money, Lloyd electrocuted him with a thunder bolt attack.

The other guard was surprised, hesitating for a moment. Lloyd ran over to him and tackled him to the ground before he could call for help and knocked him out with a kick to the head.

"Sorry guys, not my plan!"

Lloyd climbed a set of stone stairs that reached the top of the way, when he got there he was a massive wheel used to open the gate. It was hard to turn, but using all his strength put into it he managed to turn it slowly. A few seconds later the gate was completely open.

Lloyd opened the bag of coins and pulled one out, he held up the platinum poke and moved it around. The light from the sun caused the coin to sparkle brightly, this was the signal that the gate was open and the Renegades were free to enter.

Out of the forest came at least one hundred pokemon, all lead by Meryl. They ran past the gate and spread in all directions, all except Meryl who went straight to Lloyd, who was already down the stairs to meet with her.

"Ok Lloyd, I need you to go to the dungeon and free Rita, then meet in front of the keep, we need everyone we can to get in there."

"Right."

Lloyd already knew where the dungeon was, the Renegades kept a map of the entire castle with them, and Meryl had shown him step by step their plan.

While the Renegades were busy retaking most of the castle, Lloyd was to slip in unnoticed and free Rita. Once she was free he was to go to the keep, where Meryl predicted most of the remaining soldiers would go once they realized the castle was under attack so that they could defend the king.

He was successful in avoiding detection until he reached the stairs down to the dungeon itself. It was guarded by a pokemon he didn't expect to see on an island full of grass types, a Growlithe.

When Lloyd thought about it, it made sense for it to be a guard, Growlithe were known for there strong senses and its fire type attacks would be devastating to practically the entire island.

_I don't want to risk getting caught, so I cant just fight it... What should I do?_

Then Lloyd saw something at his feet, it was the Growlithe's food bowl, in it was a large bone. Lloyd grabbed it and threw it beside the guard dog. It looked towards the noise and growled, but when it saw what made the noise, it happily went over to it and began to noisily chew on it, not paying any attention to the dungeons entrance at all anymore.

Lloyd snuck down the stairs, successfully avoiding detection, and once he thought he was out of ear shot of the Growlithe, he ran the rest of the way.

Lloyd yelled into the dark, damp room. "Rita!"

He heard he yell back, the voice coming from the second cell the his left. "I'm here! Help!"

Lloyd grabbed a ring of keys he found on the wall, hanging off a nail in the wall, and rushed over to her cell. He was happy to see her, and he was especially happy to see her unharmed. He opened the cell door and swung it closed.

Rita jumped on top of Lloyd, much like she had done when she first met Kane. "Oh Lloyd, thank you so much for saving me! I was so scared!"

"Yeah, so was I."

"Huh?"

"I was scared they might have hurt you or something, I don't know what I would do without you."

"Oh Lloyd..." She stepped off of him. "So... What are we going to do now?"

"We're helping Queen Tropica take back her throne, we're supposed to go to the keep."

"Wait a sec, THE Queen Tropica?"

"The one and the same, and she wants to meet you about something."

"What?"

"I think it'd be better if she told you, now come on!"

---

"Keep fighting! Victory will soon be ours!"

The Renegades had already taken over the rest of the castle, King Noahs troops didn't stand a chance, they were all unprepared and outnumbered. The Renegades were now battling the remaining soldiers in the square in front of the keeps huge, wooden gate.

Meryl stayed back, away from the battle, she needed to wait for Lloyd and Rita to arrive. "Where are they? Did Lloyd get caught?" Then she saw him running along side Rita, running towards the keep. "They're here! They're here! Everyone fight, only the false king remains and we've won!"

Lloyd and Rita ran up to Meryl. "Ok, what should we do now?" Asked Lloyd. But Meryl didn't respond, instead she stared at Rita.

"I can't believe I'm meeting you after all this time... I..."

"Umm, hey?" Rita didn't know what was going on.

"Dear Rita, do you know who I am?"

"Yeah, Lloyd told me, your Queen Tropica, the real ruler of this island."

"That's not what I mean, I.... I'm your..."

But Meryl was interrupted by the loud groan of the keeps gates opening, out came Regal, the Caterpie that served King Noah.

"Solider's of the King! Renegades of Oasis Island! Hear me!"

Everybody stopped fighting, the soldiers went towards the gates, and the renegades went to the queen. They all stayed quite, so as to hear what message Regal was passing on.

"The King wishes to challenge the renegade Meryl Tropica, and the one known as Rita, to a duel! The prize of course, is the throne and the crown! What say you Tropica?"

Meryl shook her head. "Why should I do such a thing when your men were just moments from defeat?"

"You think that these were all the men the king had to spare? No, inside the keep itself is a hundred additional soldiers, more then a match for your little party. But the King would rather end this himself, and prove he is the one destined to be king!"

"Then I guess I have no choice, but why have both of us fight the king? The duel would be two on one!"

"The King will be accompanied by his champion, Lord Zar of the wasteland!"

"What?!" Said Rita and Lloyd together. "Your lying Regal! We defeated Zar ourselves and is in Havok City prison as we speak!"

"Oh really?" Yelled a familiar, yet somehow different voice. Out of the keep came a giant, red pokemon, with wings, deadly looking claws and an unmistakable face, It was Zar, now evolved into a Charizard. "It looks like they misplaced a prisoner then!"

"It can't be!" Yelled Rita. "How did you get out? And how did you evolve?"

"A good friend let me go, someone you know very well. And I have evolved because the boss thought I needed more power if I was going to be useful to him, and he promised more power if I captured your friend!"

"Who is this boss?" Yelled Lloyd. "Why does he want me so bad?"

"That's none of your concern, what is your concern is that when I win this duel, I'm taking you with me!"

"Lloyd." It was Meryl. "Don't worry, me and Rita can handle them both. Right?"

"Uh, right."

Meryl yelled back to Regal and Zar. "We accept your challenge!"

Regal nodded. "Then come inside, our soldiers will wait outside, as will yours."

Regal said something to someone inside the keep, and a moment later many troops marched outside, joining their injured companions.

Rita, Lloyd and Meryl and climbed the steps, everyone watching them, and went inside.

---

The doors closed, the only ones inside the enormous hall was Noah, Zar, Regal on one side, and Meryl, Rita and Lloyd on the other.

"The rules of the duel are simple." Said Regal. "The battle continues until both pokemon of either side are knocked unconscious, killed, or are forced to surrender. Does everybody understand?"

"Of course." Said the King.

"Agreed." Said Zar, his voice was much deeper now that he was a Charizard.

Rita and Meryl merely nodded.

The four of them walked towards each other, Regal stood off to the side, and Lloyd stood behind his friends.

"Ready?" Asked Regal. "Begin!"

Zar was the first to make a move, at a speed nobody could have predicted he was capable of, he took flight, swooping right at Rita. Meanwhile Noah extended two vines, which went straight for Meryl.

Rita barely was able to dodge a mid-air claw swipe from Zar, but Meryl wasn't so lucky. The Kings vine whip attack wrapped around her and tossed her aside, sending her flying into one of the large stone pillars.

Rita tried to counter attack Zar, but he already managed to turn around and fly towards her again before she had time to use a Razor Leaf attack, so she was forced to dodge him again. Zar was unbelievably fast, and she was sure he was much stronger as well.

Meryl was having even more trouble fighting Noah, Rita had no idea how much experience fighting the queen had, but obviously Noah was much tougher then he let everyone believe by hiding in the keep.

Rita had to help Meryl, so after dodging a third swipe from Zar. She ran towards Noah and mid-sprint launch a Razor Leaf attack right at Noahs vines, cutting them clean in half. Noah roared in pain and in anger.

"How dare you! You'll pay for that!"

With both Noah and Zar focussing there attacks on Rita, she knew she wasn't going to last long. But just as Zar came in for another flying attack, Meryl leaped over Rita and tackled into Zar, causing them both to crash hard into the ground.

_Wow, the queens a pretty good fighter._

Zar pushed Meryl away, and got up. He breathed deep and exhaled a huge Flamethrower towards the queen, but she managed to avoid it just in time.

Rita suddenly got an idea. "Hey Zar! Didn't you learn not to mess with me from your last beating?" Rita could see this got his attention, he looked at her and got ready for another Flamethrower. Rita ran towards Noah just as Zar attacked. Rita jumped over Noah and the Flamethrower hit him instead of her.

"Ahhhh! You moron! Watch your aim!"

"Don't you DARE call me a moron, or a swear I'll kill all three of you!!!"

Rita attacked Noah while he was distracted, she jumped on top of his head and fired as many Razor Leaf attacks as she could straight down. Noah was obviously badly injured, he barely managed to shake off Rita.

"Zar... Help me! Now!"

Zar was about to take flight, but suddenly a sound came from a bag from around his waist, everyone stopped to see what it was. It was a radio.

"...ar... Come in Zar."

"What is it?"

"The King didn't pay us the money, and I need you to do something for me. Return immediately."

"But sir, I have the target right here and I..."

"Don't argue Zar, you owe me far too much to be arguing."

"... Yes Boss." He turned towards Regal. "I surrender."

Zar took flight and flew right into the door, causing it to open wide instantly. He roared once, then disappeared, leaving Noah all alone.

"No! NOOOOO!" The duel was finished, Noah was defeated and Zar had fled.

"Your finished Noah, your just lucky I don't kill you like you did my husband." She walked over to him and spat in his face. "You a despicable man. And as my first act as queen is to banish you from the island, your to be escorted to the boat and taken to the wasteland. Where and what you do there is your decision."

She turned her back on Noah and walked outside, not waiting for anyone else to follow. Outside the gates she looked out to everyone. "King Noah has been defeated!" The Renegades cheered. "All those once loyal to him have a choice, go with him in exile to the wasteland, or remain here to work very hard until I've decided that you've learned your lesson."

Noah, escorted by several Renegades, walked out of the keep and out of the castle. None of his once loyal guards followed him to join in his fate.

"And I want you all to cheer for the one who made this victory possible, Lloyd of Team Valiant!"

The Renegades cheered again.

"Lloyd is the one responsible for getting us inside, but more importantly, he is the one responsible for returning my long lost daughter, Princess Tropica, to us!"

"A Princess?" Said Rita. "I didn't even know there was a princess, where is she?"

Meryl went up to Rita, a tear forming in her eye. "It is you dear Rita, you are my long lost daughter, you are the future queen of this castle."

"What?!" Rita was rightfully shocked. "... Mother?" Rita ran up to her mother and hugged her, crying. "I thought I'd never get to meet you! I.... I...."

"Its ok... I'm here now."

Lloyd walked towards the large audience. "Um, you I think you guys should go clean up the castle or something, I command you as friend of the princess!" Lloyd meant it as a joke, but they actually did as he asked, all of them going in different directions. "Whoa, awesome."

"Rita... I must ask you, what do you plan to do now?"

Rita stepped back from her mother and wiped the tears out of her eyes. "I don't know..." Should I stay with Lloyd? Should I stay here? I just cant decide...

"Rita..." Said Lloyd, putting his paw on her back. "It's ok if you want to stay, I understand."

Rita didn't say anything for what felt like forever. "I... I'm going to go back with Lloyd. I still have to help him, I can't leave a friend in need."

Meryl smiled. "Im proud of you, putting the needs of others first is the most important aspect of a queen. You'll always have a home here, feel free to return whenever you want." She looked at Lloyd. "This goes for you too, Team Valiant will always have a home here."

"Umm, madame?" It was Regal. "What will happen to me?"

"Oh yes, most faithful servant of the former king, what ever shall I do with you?" Regal looked terrified, he knew he was in huge trouble. "I got it... Your going to serve your future queen, your going to join Team Valiant."

"...What?" regal was baffled, he expected something much more different.

"You heard me, you can fight better then any Caterpie, they need you more then I do."

Rita and Lloyd looked at each other. Rita smiled. "Sure, we could always use someone to carry our bags for us."

"Noooooooooo, Have mercy!"

"Sorry Regal, its decided. From now until Rita returns, you will assist Team Valiant, specifically Rita, in what ever they ask of you."

Regal lowered his head and crawled over to where Rita and Lloyd stood, sobbing silently.

"You three better be off, the boat is making its last trip for quite awhile, you wouldn't want to miss it."

Lloyd dropped the bag on top of Regal. "Carry this." and started to walk down the steps towards the castles main gate. Regal followed behind him, barely able to catch up with the extra weight, still sobbing.

Rita went up to her mother and hugged her again. "I'll come back as soon as I've helped Lloyd, I promise."

"Good bye my dear, I'll always love you."

Rita took one last look of her mother, and ran down the stairs to join her friends. "Bye... Mom."

---

They waited at the dock for the boat, which was just arriving. Regal still carried the bag, but had stopped sobbing to himself about half way.

"So Lloyd..." Said Rita. "Did you still have that money Noah gave you?"

"Uh... Oops... Left it at the castle."

Rita sighed. "Well, your lucky you reunited me with my long lost mother, otherwise I'd be kicking you right now."

"Haha, your welcome."

They all boarded the boat, all (well, not Regal) ready to go back to the Brotherhood and tell Isaac of their adventure.


	24. The Egg

Chapter 24: The Egg

Isaac stared up in disbelief, an angry Onix looked down at them, an Onix that was a minute ago sleeping soundly in the darkness of the cavern.

"Jennifer... Why? Why, why, why, why, WHY!?"

"Oh, come on Isaac, this is much more fun then just sneaking around! Learn to live a little!"

The Onix came right for Jennifer, who had her back turned so she could talk to Isaac. Isaac pointed at it as is charged.

"Jennifer look out!"

She didn't even turn around, instead she jumped straight into the air, so high she reached the high up ceiling. Isaac was amazed by how high she could leap into the air, despite hearing about the Bunearys and their incredible jumping ability. When she reached the ceiling she turned herself around mid-air, her feet touching the ceiling, and she pushed hard off the ceiling, coming down fast. The Onix looked up, Jennifer's hand glowed white, she was using Mega Punch. When she got close to the Onix she punched it right in the face, the speed of the fall making it exceptionally powerful.

Jennifer landed gracefully in front of Isaac, a second later the Onix toppled over, unconscious like it had been before they came. Isaac stared at her, his eyes as wide as saucers.

"That... Was... AMAZING!"

Jennifer laughed. "Haha, thanks."

"No, seriously! That was absolutely spectacular! I thought this was your first time in a mystery dungeon!"

"It is."

"... Your... Your serious?"

"Yup."

"Wow, you must have been born for this, your... I love you Jennifer!"

There was an awkward silence, Isaac covered his beak with both of his wings.

_Way to go Isaac. Way, to, go!_

"You... Love me?"

He didn't say anything, he just kept covering his beak, not wanting to make things worse for himself.

Another awkward silence, it felt like days passed to Isaac. He finally broke the silence after a few moments passed.

"Yes, yes I do. I've loved you ever since seeing you in the mail room a few days ago. I just couldn't work up the courage to tell you how I feel... Didn't really intend to tell you here of all places..."

"Oh Isaac... I..."

She jumped right at him, knocking him over. She stood on his chest much like Rita did when they first met Kane.

"I love you too! You're the first person who's ever been this nice to me! Everyone thinks I'm as crazy as I am in the mail room when I'm working so everyone avoids me like I'm some kind of hermit living in the headquarters or something!"

Isaac couldn't respond, Jennifer was heavier then she looked and she was standing right on his chest, he couldn't even breath. Isaac waved his wings around trying to signal to her that she crushing him, but she just stared at him, confused.

"Umm... What are you doing?"

"... Can't... Bre... Ahh!"

Jennifer realized she was crushing him, so she quickly got off of him. Isaac sat up coughing, trying to catch his breath.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Isaac! I just got a little excited is all..."

Isaac breathed deeply, then finally got the chance to speak.

"Don't worry about... Whew... Glad we got everything out in the open now." He stood up. "I think you broke a rib or something..."

"Oh really?"

She hit him in the chest.

"Hey!"

"See? Your fine!" She ran off, towards the dungeons exit, giggling the whole way.

_Great job Isaac, you finally told her how you feel and she didn't freak out on you. Now you can finally stop thinking to yourself in the third person like a crazy person._

"Hey, wait up!" He chased after Jennifer, glad the weight of his secret crush was finally off his chest and out in the open.

---

It was morning, Isaac hadn't realized how long they had been in there.

The mountain air was cold, but Isaac was used to it from living in Pipton his entire life. But he saw that Jennifer, who'd probably never been anywhere other then the hot wasteland, was shivering like crazy.

"Wait one second, I have something in my bag that should warm you up."

Isaac rummaged around and pulled out a big scarf, one of the same ones he gave to Lloyd. He draped it around Jennifer's neck. A few moments later she stopped shivering.

"Thanks a lot... Wow this is a nice scarf, where'd you get it?"

"It was in the house my dad and me moved into, I have no idea where they came from. All I know is they're really warm."

"Why aren't you wearing one? Your just wearing that little red bandana."

Isaac forgot he was wearing it still. "Oh this thing?" He pulled it off and looked at it. "Apparently this belonged to my dad."

"What do you mean?"

"Well..."

As they walked down the mountain path towards the house where they were supposed to go, Isaac told Jennifer the story of how he was adopted after his fathers real son was taken away, and how his real son Maverick thought he had been replaced. He told her that he saved Lloyd and Rita from a huge blizzard, then went with Lloyd to fix the machine that baited the entire villages food supply. Finally, he told her about how Maverick had poisoned the berry juice they used as bait, effectively killing the entire village, then escaped, later sending him the bandana to taunt him.

"Oh my..." Said Jennifer. "That's awful!"

"Yeah..."

Jennifer went over to him and put her arm around him to comfort him. "But at least some good came out of everything right? You met new friends, and I can't imagine life being very exciting for you there."

"Yeah, your right, but I still will never forgive Maverick for what he did, he's a horrible pokemon and I'll make sure he gets what he deserves."

"Don't worry, when the time comes, you wont be fighting him alone. I'll be their with you."

"Thanks Jennifer, I appreciate that."

"But..."

"But?"

"In exchange, you gotta help me beat up my sisters."

"Haha, sounds like a plan."

When they finally got to the house, they both knocked on the door. A moment later a Geodude opened the door.

"Oh." He said. "Hello, you must be the Brotherhood guys!"

"Yes we are, were here to pick up the egg."

"Wait here and I'll go get it." The Geodude went back inside, but he didn't close the door. A moment later he came back holding a large yellow and black egg. "Here you go."

"Where'd you find this egg anyways?" Asked Isaac.

"Well, I was walking around my house when I saw a small rock poking out of the side of the mountain wall. I pulled it out and the whole wall collapsed, the fell over and the egg was right there. It must have been buried or something."

"Wait a sec." Said Jennifer. "How could a buried egg still be alive?"

"Oh I know why, my dad told me." Explained Isaac. "All pokemon eggs contain a large amount of this paste like stuff that the baby inside can eat, even a small amount of it can feed it for days. Supposedly an unhatched pokemon can survive in its egg for over five thousand years. The egg itself is really strong, its nearly impossible to crack it open from the outside, so its quite possible this egg got buried in a landslide thousands of years ago."

"So the things been in there waiting all these years for it to be found? Poor thing."

"Don't worry, as soon as it hatches it'll forget everything that happened inside the egg. So even if it went crazy from the loneliness, it will be fine as soon as its out."

"You certainly know what your doing." Said the Geodude. "It looks like I was right to contact you guys."

"Don't worry sir, I'll personally make sure this egg is taken care of."

"That's good to here, if you guys are wanting to get down the mountain, here's an escape orb. Just go back into the mountain and activate it and you'll be back on the ground in no time."

Isaac took the orb and put it in his bag. "Thanks, have a nice day!"

"You too!" Isaac and Jennifer left with the egg, heading back towards the cave entrance so they could leave as quickly as possible.

"Thanks for taking me Isaac, this was really fun."

"You know... You could always join Team Valiant instead of going back to your old job."

"But I can't, I need someone to replace me!"

"Get Rina to replace you."

"Well... I guess she could, she doesn't even have a job yet and mom keeps bugging her about it."

"Good! Then its settled, as soon as we get back we'll talk to Rina again in the mail room and have you officially signed up."

Once they got inside the cave, Isaac grabbed Jennifer's hand and activated the orb, sending them back to the foot of the mountain.

Isaac tried to let go of her hand, but Jennifer held on tight. Isaac looked at her and saw her smiling. He knew what she wanted, she wanted to hold hands with him.

"So..." He said. "You ready to go?"

"Definitely."

They walked, hand in hand, not taking a break the entire way back to the Brotherhood HQ.

---

Lloyd, Rita and Regal all got off the boat from Oasis Island. As a special favour from the Queen, the boat took them to a shore not a hour away from Havok City, instead of its usual destination at the harbor.

"Oh dear, this sand feels so weird on my feet, and its so hot! This place is horrible..."

"Oh quiet Regal." Said Rita. "Its your fault for not leaving the castle when Noah took over."

"Where was I supposed to go? Live out in the forest with the rest of the people who left? You know how many wild bird pokemon there are who would gladly come down to eat me for lunch?"

"Well... Tough."

Regal did nothing except complain the entire trip, Lloyd actually had to stop Rita from throwing him overboard because he wouldn't shut up about the boat rocking too much.

They all walked to Havok City, Regal carried Rita's bag the entire way.

---

It was the middle of the afternoon when Isaac and Jennifer got back to the HQ, they still held hands, happy as could be.

"Lets go to the mail room, once I get Rina to replace me, I'm all yours."

"Great!"

On the way they got spotted by Ewan, who ran up to them.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What's going on?"

"What do you mean Ewan?" Asked Isaac.

"You two, holding hands, are you... A couple?"

"Pretty much." Said Jennifer, pulling Isaac closer. "Why?"

"Oh... Nothing, nothing at all! Ah, go ahead I guess then."

Ewan left, going outside the HQ.

"What was that about?" Asked Isaac.

"Oh, everyone thinks I'm crazy because the only time they see me is in the mail room, and I'm usually going a hundred miles an hour in there."

"Well, good thing your quitting huh?"

"Definitely."

They got to the mail room and Isaac saw a familiar scene, a Buneary running all over trying to her work done. She saw them both come in and dropped the stack of papers she had in her arms, spilling them across the floor.

"Finally! This job sucks, I'm out of here."

"Oh no your not Rina, I've been invited to join Team Valiant, so your gonna replace me here."

"Yeah, then Growlithe and Meowth are gonna rain from the sky right? Ain't gonna happen Fuzzball."

Jennifer went over to Rina and pushed her to the floor, then put her foot on her chest to prevent her from getting back up.

"Listen here, first of all, call me that again and I'll beat you to a pulp, secondly, your taking this job or I'm telling mom your still seeing Torch."

"No, you can't!"

"I will if you don't take the job."

"God I hate you so much Fuzz... Jennifer. Fine, but don't you dare ever ask me to do you any favours in the future."

"Great, how go get the application forms for new members."

Rina stormed off into the back room and brought back a blue form, it already had three signatures belonging to Lloyd, Rita and Isaac. Jennifer signed her name right below theirs.

"Now get lost!" Yelled Rina. "I have work to do!"

"And you always will, have fun Fuzzball!"

"Hey, don't you use that name for me!" but Jennifer wasn't listening.

"Come on Isaac, show me to our room."

Isaac was speechless, Jennifer was becoming more and more attractive to him every day. He knew there was no other girl for him.

"Wow... yeah... follow me its this way." As he led the way, he asked Jennifer a question. "Who's Torch?"

"Rina's boyfriend, mom doesn't want her seeing him because he's part of some gang or something, I can't remember exactly."

---

Isaac and Jennifer sat in Isaacs bed,relaxing after all their hard work.

"So, how do you think we're gonna do with this egg?" Asked Jennifer.

Isaac held the egg in front of him, he took the scarf he gave to Jennifer and wrapped the egg with it, fashioning a kind of next.

"Keep it, and when it hatches we get the daycare to raise it."

"Do you know anything about taking care of an egg?"

"Yeah, my dad taught me everything, one of his jobs was to take care of peoples eggs while they went fishing, and he told me everything."

"So what do we do?"

"First we keep it warm, and we gotta wash it too, its all dusty. Then we just sit and wait."

"Why don't you take it to the pool, there's a hot tub there that you could wash it with and keep it warm at the same time. I'll go with you, it'll be fun!"

"I guess so, I could use a nice dip in some hot water myself."

They walked towards the door, Isaac was about to open it, but it started opening before he could touch the knob. The door opened and there was Lloyd and Rita.

"Oh, hey guys!" Said Isaac, excited about seeing them again.

"Hey Isaac, how was the mission?"

"Oh, great, great, how was Oasis Island?"

"You wouldn't believe it Isaac." Said Rita. "I'll tell you everything tonight!"

"Oh, by the way, this is Jennifer." He stood aside so they could see her.

"Hello." She said.

"I invited her to join our team, I hope that's alright."

"I don't have any problems with it." Said Lloyd

"Me neither, we need more members anyways, welcome to the team Jennifer!"

"Thanks guys." She made Isaac hold her hand again. "Come, lets go before the egg gets cold."

"Ahh, right, see you guys tonight."

Isaac and Jennifer left the room, closing the door behind them.

"Did you see that Lloyd?" Asked Rita.

"What?"

"Isaac and Jennifer, they were holding hands just now."

"So?"

"Do you think... They might be boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"I don't know, and I really don't wanna think about it right now, I'm exhausted." Lloyd climbed into bed and covered himself with the blankets, but Rita pulled them right off.

"Lloyd, don't go to bed now! Remember what we were supposed to do after we got back?"

"Not at all..." Said Lloyd, yawning.

"The Captains back today, we gotta go ask him what this rock we found is."

"Why now? Can't I take a short nap first?"

"No, now come on!"

Rita dragged him out of bed and pulled him out of the room.

"Ow, Rita, slow down!"

The door closed, leaving Regal all alone in the room.

"I'll just stay here then... Why did this have to happen to me?!" Regal sobbed quietly to himself.


	25. The Story of the Wasteland

The last chapter until February, and my personal favorite of any of them so far. I want everyone to review the story as soon as your done, specifically this chapter.

Chapter 25: The Story of the Wasteland

The doors of the elevator opened, Lloyd jumped out as soon as the opening was big enough, landing in front of the secretaries desk in front of the Captains office. He still hated going up the elevator with a passion, every time he rode it he felt sicker and sicker when it finally stopped.

The Lopunny secretary, who Lloyd remembered was named Lina, got up to help him up.

"Oh dear." She said. "You must have tripped, let me help you up!"

Lloyd was too sick to tell her he was just fine getting up on his own, so he just lifted up one arm so she could grab him and pull him up.

Rita came out of the elevator behind him, seeing him being helped up. "Lloyd, what are you doing?!" She asked.

"I fell."

Rita rolled her eyes, knowing the real reason he was on the floor. "Lloyd, you really need to get over this motion sickness problem of yours, we use the elevator single every day at least twice a day."

"Yeah, I'll get right on it when you get over your fear of spiders."

Rita didn't say anything.

"The captain is waiting for you." Said Lina. "You two should go right in."

Lloyd and Rita nodded, and went right through to door to the Captains office. They saw him immediately sitting at his desk writing something down on a piece of paper.

"Hello? Captain?" Said Lloyd, trying to get his attention.

"One sec, almost done here..." The Captain didn't look up, he just kept writing stuff down on the paper in front of him. Lloyd and Rita used the time they had to pull over two chairs to sit in.

A full minute later, the Captain threw down his pencil and let out a loud sigh of relief. "Sorry about that, my absence seems to have caused a build up of paper work for me and I've been busy none stop since I got back. What can I do for you two? And you'll have to tell me how your teams doing of course."

"Well, we managed to make it to the basement of Havok Sewers, and we found some strange stone down there that we thought you might know about, since you were the last one to make it down there."

"Well, take it out and let me have a look."

Rita did so, she rummaged around her bag until she found the stone. She pulled it out and placed it on the desk.

"Oh, yes, I remember now! That's an Infinity Stone, a stone that lets any pokemon evolve anytime that they wish, all they have to do is touch it and presto, they evolve!"

"But I just touched it, and nothing happened."

"Well that's because the things all dirty, those things collect dust like crazy and its been down in that sewer a long time you see. Here give it to me." Rita handed him the stone, he placed it in the middle of the desk. The Captain opened his desk and pulled out a tiny hammer, he took it and lightly tapped the stone, chipping off bit after bit of its outer layer, revealing a much different stone underneath. When he finished, the once dull looking rock now looked much like a large diamond. "There ya go, I completely forgot about this thing, such a long time ago I put it there."

"Captain..." Said Lloyd. "What exactly are Infinity Stones? I know about Fire Stones and Leaf Stones and all of them, but I've never heard of one that could be used on any pokemon."

"From what I know, Infinity Stones were created by humans soon before they all disappeared from the world. Nobody knows how they got created, some people say that they got created by mashing up all the other evolutionary stones somehow, some say they were mined like any other stone, but nobody really knows and its quite likely the true answer was lost along with the humans."

"What happened to the humans anyways? Everyone keeps saying their extinct."

"Have you been living in a bubble or something? That's a pretty well known story."

"He lost his memory." Said Rita. "He doesn't remember much."

"Oh, well, I guess I got enough time for some story telling." The Captain cleared his throat. "Long ago, about five thousand years ago, the humans were doing some experiments in a facility far to the north. In that facility one of the scientists was absolutely obsessed with two of his experiments, the first was transformation of one life form into another, he wanted to be able to turn pokemon into humans, humans into pokemon, pokemon into totally different species of pokemon, all with the flick of a switch. The second experiment was the cloning of pokemon using even the smallest amount of DNA, even something as small as a feather, or an eyelash. Eventually this scientist completed one of his experiments, the cloning one, and created a machine that could create any pokemon he wished."

"That doesn't sound very dangerous." Said Lloyd. "How did that cause all the humans to disappear?"

"I'm getting to that Lloyd! Anyways, he created the machine and what not. The thing he did wrong was he went way to far to fast, the first things he cloned were legendary pokemon."

"What are legendary pokemon?" Asked Lloyd.

"Legendary pokemon are much more powerful and rare then any normal pokemon. So much so many humans didn't believe they existed. This scientists though, knew they existed because he had so many pieces of evidence to prove it, including DNA of most of them. The first ones he created were the three legendary birds, Arcticuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. Unfortunately for him, they all escaped, destroying his lab in the process."

"So these birds killed all the humans?"

"Oh heavens no, they just tore down that lab and went to go hide somewhere. The scientist wasn't about to give up though, he took his machine and went somewhere where nobody could find him, and continued his experiments. He recreated his first creations, the legendary birds, then moved onto all the others. It was his final experiments that caused the extinction of the human race, as well, made most of the world the desolate wasteland it is now."

"You mean it wasn't always like this?"

"Not at all, I heard you went to Oasis Island correct? Think that, everywhere, and not just the island. Anyways, his final two experiments, the first, he cloned the two biggest rivals to ever be known, Kyogre and Groudon, the next, he created the worlds most mysterious pokemon, Mew. After what happened last time with the legendary birds, he made sure to keep them all asleep with a specially chamber he created, that way they couldn't escape and wreck havoc again. But unfortunately, the Groudon escaped his prison, freeing all the others. If the scientist never created Groudon and Kyogre, they would have just destroyed his new lab and went away like last time. But once those two enemies spotted each other, they instantly started to battle causing the other legendaries to go berserk as well, fighting amongst each other. The scientist, seeing the danger of his work, decided it would be best to pull the plug on the whole experiment and kill his creations before things got worse, but his final creation, the Mew, wouldn't have any of it. This Mew was strange, it was supposedly much larger then a normal one, with slightly different features, almost like an evolved form, which the scientist called Mewtwo. Mewtwo wanted the others to fight, he killed the scientist, and freed the crazed legendaries out into the world."

"So it was Mewtwo's fault that all that stuff happened?"

"Thats right, with Groudon and Kyogre there to fuel the fire, and Mewtwo there to spread it, the world didn't stand a chance. Humans were the first to go, all of them all around the world killed within a week, the legendaries went after pokemon as well, killing entire species. The fire type legendaries burned forests to the grounds, the electric types leveled mountains with there thunder, ice types froze whole oceans solid, by the time they were done, everything except the most hardy pokemon died off. The legendaries, eventually disappeared as well, no trace ever to be found again, and the evidence of their destruction covered up by sand blown in from far away, covering the charred earth and the scorched plants, turning most of the world, into a desert. The next few years were hard for the remaining pokemon, many of them became carnivores like their long gone ancestors just to survive, eventually losing their mind and becoming wild pokemon. After everything, only about five percent of the pokemon population remained true to themselves, they all gathered together where ever it was safe for them, which was typically long abandoned human towns. It wasn't long before these towns became real communities, with shops and all that stuff. Since then, not much has changed, were still living in the once human towns trying to survive the now broken world."

"Isn't there some way to change all that? Someway to return the world to the way it was?"

"Ha, and exactly how would we go about that? Go back in time or something?"

Lloyd didn't say anything.

"Listen Lloyd, the only thing you need to worry about is the here and now. The sole purpose of the Brotherhood is to keep the dying world from completely dying, not cure it and make it brand new again, that's long been impossible."

"Ok... I understand."

"Now, I think its your turn to tell me a story. How's the team going? You find yourself another member yet?"

"Several actually." Said Rita. "A recruited a Piplup named Isaac a few days ago, then not long ago another two members, Regal the Caterpie and Jennifer the Buneary."

"Wait... Jennifer? I always thought she was a total nut job!"

"Yeah, so did we." Said Lloyd.

"Well, that's great to hear, its nice to see a fledgling team grown so quickly. What about your missions, how have they been going?"

"Well..." Started Rita. "First we went to Pipton to help them get their food supply back again, but they all got killed by another fugitive who was after Lloyd."

"Oh yes, I heard about that from Ewan, terrible tragedy that is."

"Then we went to Pokemon new Radio to fix the signal, which was a complete success. Then the team split up for two different missions, me and Lloyd went to Oasis Island, as you heard, and helped the queen get her throne back from some guy named Noah. Meanwhile Lloyd brought Jennifer along to some mountain to pick up an egg, which they're taking care of right now."

"Did any more fugitives attack you since Pipton?"

"Actually..." Started Lloyd. "We were attacked, on Oasis Island, by Zar."

"What?! The same one you captured in Havok Sewer?"

"Yeah, except he had evolved, not once, but twice, and I'm pretty sure its permanent now."

"This is unbelievable, last time I saw Zar was when he was being brought to our prison, barely any life left in him... This is very bad... I think its best if you guys went now, I got some calls to make, I'm sure you'll understand."

Lloyd and Rita both knew he was going to investigate about Zar. "Yes captain." Said both Rita and Lloyd. They both then got out of their chairs and walked out of the office, closing the door behind them.

"Lloyd... How sure are you that your really human?"

"Its my only memory, but its so clear, I just know I was human."

"But you just heard, humans have been extinct for over five thousand years!"

"So have Pikachu."

"Well... I guess your right there. Oh well, lets not worry about it, its been a long day so lets go do something."

Lloyd wanted to do something as well, but had no idea what he wanted to do. "Like what?" He asked.

"Well you can't go in the pool, little early in the day to go to the casino, and I don't think reading would be very fun right now."

"What about the spa? We could go there again."

"Oh, good idea Lloyd! I could really go for another one of their mud baths!"

"Ok, sounds like a plan, lets go then!"

Rita and Lloyd both boarded the elevator, taking it straight down to the ground floor. They both went straight to Sunshine Spa, ready to relax, and for Lloyd, think about what he'd just learned from the Captain.

---

"Ahh, this is great." Said Jennifer as she stepped into the hot tub. "I love this thing so much."

"You come here a lot?" Asked Isaac, who was holding the egg, wiping it with a cloth that he soaked in the tub a moment ago.

"All the time, when I could. Home was no fun and I needed a way to relax."

Jennifer scooted over to Isaac and put her head on Isaacs shoulder. "This place is pretty romantic, don't you think?"

"Uh, I guess."

She lifted her head. "What do you mean, I guess?"

"Well, its just this egg, kinda hard to clean it and be romantic at the same time."

"Well, yeah I guess your right, we came down here because of it I guess that should be our focus."

Splash! Something small jumped into the tub, sending water flying everywhere. "Oh goodness me, this is just what I needed!" it was Regal, the Caterpie that Lloyd and Rita brought with them from Oasis Island.

"Regal! Be careful around the egg!"

"Oh, I apologize, I just was a little excited is all, I never had time off before!"

"Why?"

"Well, I worked at the castle all my life, serving the king and or queen, I was always either serving them or sleeping."

"Then why are you here?" Asked Isaac.

"My job, I'm here to serve the future queen!"

"... And she is?"

"Your friend, Rita."

Isaac and Jennifer stared at him, mouths wide open. "Your kidding!" They both said.

"Nope, Rita is the future queen, in other words, Princess of Oasis Island."

"Wow..." Said Isaac. "I never would have imagined."

"Lucky her, I've always wanted to be a Princess."

Regal unexpectedly changed the subject. "What are you doing to that egg?"

Isaac looked at it. "Cleaning it?"

"No, no, your doing it all wrong! Your supposed to wipe is circles, not up and down like that!"

"How would you know?" Asked Jennifer. "Do you have kids or something?"

"Oh, heavens no, I haven't even found my true love yet. No, my experience with eggs was from long ago, when I was the eggsitter of the Princess's egg."

"You took care of Rita when she was just an egg?"

"Yes, the king and queen were very busy at the time, so they had me clean, warm and carry around Rita's egg. It was a fairly easy job too, got me out of all my other responsibilities so it was the closest to a vacation I ever got. Rita took a full year before she hatched, that's when the vacation ended."

"What do you mean?"

"Rita had to be the most terrible hatchling I ever had the misfortune to meet! You can't believe the things she put me through!"

"Like what? What could a little baby do that could be so bad?"

"You have no idea, she spat her food at me when I tired to feed her, she escaped from her crib constantly, making me look for her before her parents found out she was missing, she kicked me around like a ball... Oh the mere memory of it sends chills down my spine."

"Do Caterpie even have spines?" Asked Jennifer.

"Umm... Well... I think we do."

"Well..." Started Isaac. "If your so good at eggsitting, why don't you take care of the egg then?"

"Well, I guess I have to since you seem to know nothing about taking care of it. Hand it over."

Isaac shifted over to where Regal was sitting and handed over the egg, then returned to his seat beside Jennifer. Regal took the cloth Isaac had and wiped the egg, moving the cloth in circles.

"There we go, nothings going to happen to you little egg... Oh, this brings back such memories, how I love the feeling of nostalgia."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the tub, Jennifer placed her head back on Isaacs shoulder. Isaac responded by putting his wing around her neck, hugging her gently.

"So, you wanna see a movie later Jennifer?"

"Sure, sounds fun. Actually... Wanna go now? Nobody usually goes this early so we could be all alone."

"Uh, ok I guess, we'll see you later Regal."

"Yes, yes, whatever, go about your business." Regal didn't even look at them as they got out, his focus totally on the egg. Isaac swore he could hear him singing softly to the egg.

Jennifer and Isaac were gone, Regal was now the last one in the hot tub. Isaac was right, Regal was singing very quietly to the egg as he slowly wiped it with the cloth. "Don't worry little egg, you need not beg, I'll be here for you. Keeping you safe is my goal, I'll never drop you and let you roll, you'll always be in my care. I'll make sure you grow up nice and strong, but for now just listen to my song..."

---

It was later in the afternoon, everyone had returned from the places they had gone and were all ready for bed. But now they faced a new problem, five pokemon, four beds.

"Great." Said Rita. "What are we gonna do?"

"Why don't I just sleep with Isaac in his bed?" Suggested Jennifer.

"Why would you wanna do that?"

"Didn't Isaac tell you? We're a couple."

"Isaac and you are boyfriend and girlfriend?" Asked Lloyd.

"Yup, that's why I was sneaking around the last few days, I was going to visit Jennifer and stuff."

"Ok..." Started Rita. "But that's not what I was talking about, I think your gonna have a hard time getting any sleep with Isaac laying next to you."

"Oh, please, I'll be fine."

"Ok... Now what do we do with the egg?"

"I'll keep it with me in my bed." Said Regal. "I'll keep it warm and make sure it doesn't fall off or anything. It needs to stay warm all night."

"Ok, lets all go to bed then." Said Rita. Lloyd and Rita climbed into the two beds on the right side of the room, the ones they always slept in. Isaac climbed into his bed on the left side or the room, Jennifer climbing up right after, and Regal took the last bed, which was the closest to the door.

"Good night everyone." Said Rita.

"Good night." Said Lloyd.

"See you tomorrow." Said Jennifer.

Regal and Isaac said nothing, a second later everyone heard a loud snore coming from Isaac.

Rita laughed. "I told you so Jennifer." Everyone went to sleep, except for Jennifer, who lied down with a pillow over her ears, trying to block out the thunderous noise coming from beside her. Eventually she gave up, pulled the blankets off of Isaac, who didn't react at all, and went over to the other side of room to sleep on the floor. But even still her enormous Buneary ears still heard the snores, only a little bit quieter then they were when she was beside him. It took her almost three hours to fall asleep along with everyone else.

---

It was morning, for the first time since Team Valiant's creation, everyone was awake nice and early. Everyone was in a good mood, and was well rested, except for Jennifer, who looked terrible in both aspects.

"What's wrong Jennifer?" Asked Isaac. "Have trouble sleeping or something?"

Jennifer pushed him over. "Of course I did! You snore so loud it was like there was thunderstorm above our bed!"

"Huh, I snore? Didn't know that."

Jennifer buried her face in her paws. "I'm going to get some breakfast in the cafeteria." She turned, opened the door and left.

"Jennifer, wait!" Isaac went through the door and chased after her.

"I'll be off too, I'm going into town to buy some stuff for the egg." Regal began to head for the door, but Rita stopped him. "Wait a sec, your supposed to be helping me, not taking care of that egg."

"Actually, my largest responsibility is to take care of any eggs belonging to royal family, and this responsibility goes above all others. Since this egg technically belongs to Team Valiant, and you're one of the leaders of Team Valiant, that technically makes this your egg, meaning until this egg hatches and you've taken over the responsibility off the hatchlings care, I'm completely off the hook. Bye!" Regal continued his way out, carrying the egg in front of him as he crawled away.

"I guess its just you and me then Lloyd. Lets go get our next mission, shall we?"

"Yeah, ok..."

"What's wrong Lloyd?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Lets go."

---

"So, have you sent the mission yet?"

"Yes, and I specifically asked for Team Valiant to come. I'll have Lloyd brought to you by tomorrow night."

"Good, good, Raticate and Gastly are still with you correct?"

"No, I sent them back, they know them too well and I don't need my cover blown. They we're useless to me anyways."

"Completely understandable, just don't fail me."

"I won't Boss. What should I do with the others?"

"I don't care about them, kill them if you wish."

"Ok, I'll call you when I've succeeded."


	26. The Pokemon Battle Academy

Not as much time to write as I used to have, so Chapters will be coming at a slower rate. Nothing I can do about it.

Chapter 26: The Pokemon Battle Academy

"Listen Jennifer, I can't help it! Believe me, I've tried to get help!"

"Well, I can't sleep because of your snoring, my big ears could probably hear you from outside of town!"

Isaac and Jennifer sat alone at one of the cafeterias tables, Jennifer was eating some cold cereal, Isaac didn't have anything to eat and was focused entirely on their conversation.

"My dad took me to a doctor once, and nothing helped, no machines or pills or anything!"

"So what should we do then? I'm not going to be able to sleep in the same room with you as long as your snoring so loud."

Isaac didn't say anything for a while. "Maybe... We could get you earplugs or something?"

"That would never work, my hearing is way too good and your way too loud."

"Then... I don't know... Let me think about it."

Isaac got up and walked out of the cafeteria, going back to Team Valiants room. Jennifer finished her breakfast and eventually went back too.

---

Isaac opened the door of their room, inside he saw Regal trying to set up some large, complicated looking machine. There was parts of the machine, bits of packaging, and several instruction manuals spread across the area around Regal.

"Insert battery into slot 3... Where's the battery?" Regal said to himself, not noticing Isaac come in.

"Umm, Regal? What's all this?"

"Oh!" He said, looking around as if it was the first time he notice the mess he had made. "This is something I bought for the egg of course, a state of the art incubator! Put the egg inside and the incubator keeps it nice and warm twenty four seven!"

Isaac looked beside Regals bed and saw numerous shopping bags. "And what's all this?"

"Oh, lots of things, stuff to clean the egg, baby food for when it hatches, toys and books to read to it, and a manual that I hoped to use to find out what pokemon might hatch from it, but that ended up being a waste of money as the egg wasn't in it at all."

Isaac looked at the egg. "Color reminds me of Lloyd... Maybe it's a Patchu... Or whatever the name of his pre-evolution is."

"Perhaps, wouldn't it be funny if this was his unhatched great, great uncle or something? Oh well, we can see when it hatches right?"

Isaac was about to say, "Yeah, I guess." When suddenly Jennifer burst in, startling both Isaac and Regal. She was on the ground, face planted into the floor.

"Owwwww..." She moaned, Isaac went over to help her up.

"Did you trip or something?"

"Well duh!" Said Jennifer angrily, she held her nose. "Owch, I think its broken..."

Regal went past them into the hall and picked up what Jennifer must have tripped on. "Aha! Here's the battery!" He crawled past them both again, but as he passed by, Jennifer shortened his trip back to the incubator with a swift kick, sending him flying.

"Tell Lloyd and Rita we can't go with them on today's mission, we need to get this nose looked at." Isaac escorted Jennifer out of the room, protecting her as if her entire body was broken in the fall.

Regal beside the incubator, slightly stunned by the sudden kick across the room. "Not my fault she can't watch where she walks..."

He got up, picked up the battery that he had lost, and put it in a slot on the side of the machine. Instantly it came to life, making a quiet humming sound. Regal crawled up to the device, and poked his head inside it, his head just over top of where the egg was supposed to go. "Ah, nice and warm, perfect!" He crawled over to where he put the egg, it laid on top of Regals bed, wrapped tightly with one of his blankets, he uncovered it and placed it inside, then shut the transparent door that covered the egg sized hole.

Regal looked inside, the egg was perfectly safe, the incubator would keep it warm until it was finally ready to hatch.

He stared inside for almost an hour, admiring it like it was gigantic jewel shining in the sunlight. Regal always had a fascination and love of eggs, he loved to take care of the tiny life inside, even if it eventually hatched into a whining, crying trouble maker. The egg made no noise, and demanded nothing of him, a nice change from a life of being bossed around all the time.

---

"So what did we get in the mail?" Asked Rita as Lloyd reached inside Team Valiants cubby hole.

"Just a sec..." He pulled two letters. "Ones obviously our next mission..." He looked at both and gave one too Rita. "This is from your mom."

"Really?" She grabbed it and opened it excitedly, there wasn't just a letter inside, there was also one small platinum coin, which fell out and dropped to the floor.

_**Dear Rita**_

_**I know it must be a hard life out there, so I'm sending you a weekly allowance from now on. Unfortunately I cant spare much as a lot is needed to repair the castle after the attack, as well as other things that Noah seemed to have neglected during his rule.**_

_**I hope Regal isn't complaining too much, while he was always loyal and efficient, he never did seem to stay quiet for very long.**_

_**I'll send you another letter soon, make sure to write to me as well.**_

_**Love, your mother**_

"Cool! I'm gonna go spend this next time we go shopping!"

"Rita, you still need to buy us a new radio remember, you destroyed the other."

"Oh yeah..." Rita sighed. "What's our mission?"

Lloyd opened the envelope and pulled out the letter.

_**Team Valiant**_

_**My name is Edward, I run a school known as the Pokemon Battle Academy, a place where pokemon come to learn how to fight at a very advanced level.**_

_**We heard of your accomplishments and wish to ask for your help.**_ _**In a nearby cave just north of us, there is rumored to be a very dangerous wild pokemon living in the farthest depths of the cave. These rumors were recently confirmed when one of our students was kidnapped and taken inside the cave by the very creature who lives there. We wish for you to go and rescue the child, if she is still all right, and defeat the monster so this doesn't happen again.**_

_**We would go there ourselves, but unfortunately all the teacher are very busy with their lessons, the final exam for our senior students is only three weeks away and every day is vital.**_

_**The reward will be 20,000 poke, paid as soon as that monster is either dead or in your custody.**_

_**(At the bottom is a stamped logo of the Pokemon Battle Academy.)**_

"I know someone from that place!" Shouted Rita

"You do?"

"Yeah, from a few years back, before she went to this school, a Vulpix named Sakura. We separated a while ago because she and her brother wanted to go to the school, and I wanted to just explore the wasteland, looking for treasure and such."

"How long exactly was that?"

"Um... Roughly ten years ago."

"Ten years?!" Said Lloyd, surprised. "And she's still there?"

"Yeah, but not for long I'm sure, if I remember correctly, students graduate on their tenth year if they did well."

"This is pretty cool then, huh?" Said Lloyd. "You get to see your friend after ten years, you must be happy about that huh?"

"... I guess." She didn't sound happy to Lloyd at all. But before he could quiz her about it, she pushed past towards the door. "Come on, we better get going now."

She left without waiting for him to follow. "Did I say something wrong?" He asked nobody is particular. Then grabbed their mail and followed her out and back to their room.

---

"What do you mean they left?" Asked Rita, who was packing things, taking random things and throwing them in one of their bags.

"I'm sorry... One of them, the Buneary, she fell over and hurt herself. Serves her right for being so careless!"

"Ok, fine, whatever, come on Regal we're going now." She threw the now fully packed bag at him, expecting him to carry it.

"But... The Egg..."

"Its fine, now come!" Rita gave him an angry look.

"Um, yes my lady, whatever you say." He grabbed the bag and hauled it to the door, passing Lloyd who was leaning in the doorway. He could hear him mutter something to himself as he passed by.

"Well at least he isn't crying to himself." He walked over to Rita. "What's wrong Rita? You've been in a bad mood since you found out about the mission, shouldn't you be happy to see your friend after so long?"

"You wouldn't understand Lloyd, just leave me alone!" She pushed passed him for the second time, but didn't stop to say anything and kept on going out the door.

---

"Is she ok? Is she gonna die?" Isaac was totally panicked over Jennifer's injury. He couldn't sit still so he kept walking back and forth, even when he talked.

"Isaac, she broke her nose, she didn't get blown up or anything, calm down!" Isaac had no idea where the doctor was, so he brought her to Ewan, he decided to look at her nose since there wasn't an actual doctor in the city. "Listen, one of my team members is looking after her, just go do something and we'll send her back to your room when she's ready to leave."

Suddenly Rita poked her head inside and spotted the two of them. "Their you are! Come on Isaac, grab Jennifer and lets go!"

"I'm sorry Rita." Said Ewan. "I'm afraid Jennifers gotta stay here for the day, last thing we need is her bumping into something and breaking her nose again, its very..."

"Fine, fine, Isaac, come on!" Rita didn't bother letting Ewan finish."

"But I wanted to wait for..."

"NOW!"

"Just go." Said Ewan. "I'll tell Jennifer that you left for the mission, it'll be fine!"

"Ok I guess, I'm coming Rit..." But she already left. Regal and Lloyd passed in front of the door, following her. "Uh, I'll see you Ewan, and thanks!" He ran out to join the others.

"It's no problem Isaac, good luck to you all!"

---

Rita never stopped for a single moment, not to speak or anything. The entire team had to move quick to catch up.

Regal, who despite being the smallest, lacking legs and carrying Ritas bag, was having the least trouble keeping up. He crawled along side Rita in order to be able to speak with her, which was difficult as he had to dodge the occasional Brotherhood member going in the opposite direction down the hallway.

"Excuse me, lady Rita! What is it that drives you to such haste?"

"Don't worry about it." She said, plain and simple.

"Are you mad about something?"

"Don't worry about it!" She said again, this time with a hint of anger in her voice.

"Please, lady Rita, I'm only trying to..."

Rita stopped, and kicked Regal, sending him flying towards the others. He landed at the feet of Lloyd and Isaac, the bag he was carrying fell right on top of him a second later.

Lloyd picked up the bag, letting Regal get up. "I think its best we don't try to talk with her." Said Lloyd. "It's none of our business anyways." Regal nodded, and got back up. Everyone continued to follow Rita all the way out to Havok City.

Just outside the HQ, Rita went over and took the bag from Lloyd, pulled out the map, and looked at it briefly.

"It's not far, just two hour walk south. Lets go there, get the job done and get out." She rolled up the map and put it back in the bag, then gave it to Lloyd. "Lets go then Team Valiant, hop to it!" And then, once again, began to march away quickly and without a word.

"I have a feeling we're not going to enjoy this trip." Said Isaac, sighing afterwards.

"Lady Rita has certainly got something on her mind."

"When did you figure that out Regal?" Asked Lloyd. "Before or after she booted you?"

Regal didn't say anything.

"Lets just go guys, this will all be over by the end of the day I'm sure."

Everyone began to move, trying to catch up to Rita, but everyone stopped when they heard a yell come from behind, coming from the HQ.

"Waaaaaait!" It yelled. Everyone stopped, including Rita, to see who was calling them.

It was a Charmander, he ran towards them, huffing and puffing as he went. When he finally caught up, he was completely out of breath. "Rit... Rita..." He tried to say.

"Wait a sec..." Said Rita, getting a good look at the Charmander. "Your from that other team... Alistair right?"

Still out of breath, Alistair could only nod in response.

"Well? What is it?" Rita said impatiently.

"I... Marie... Ivan..." Still unable to speak properly, he inhaled and exhaled over and over, as deep as he could muster. "Whew... It's my teammates, Marie and Ivan, have you seen them?"

"No, we haven't." Said Rita. "Why would we know anyways? We're not their babysitters!"

Alistair back away slightly, as if he was preparing to run away from Rita if she suddenly attacked or something. He nibbled on the tip of one of his claws nervously.

"I... Sorry, I can't find them anywhere they just disappeared."

"Then go tell Ewan about it!"

"Rita please!" Lloyd stepped in. "We're sorry Alistair, we haven't seen them."

"Well, if you do, could you tell them I'm looking for them? Marie is an Eevee, she's kinda mean most of the time, and Ivan is a Bulbasaur, he talks funny."

"All right then." Said Lloyd. "If we see them, we'll tell them."

"Thanks... What's your name?"

"Lloyd."

"Thanks Lloyd, I'm gonna go back to our room and wait until they come back." He ran off, back inside the HQ.

"This is such a waste of time!" Said Rita, sounding very annoyed. "Lets go now before anyone else comes and delays us."

Everyone obeyed, and began their march towards the academy, all wanting to know what was making Rita so moody all of the sudden.

---

Earlier that day, in an alley somewhere in Havoc City, Marie and Ivan waited.

"You sure about this? Doesn't seem safe, we should go, now is good."

"Oh, quiet Ivan, the reason I left Alistair behind is because all he would do is whine, this is our second chance at getting rich and I don't want either of you screwing it up."

"Fine, fine, but don't blame me if anything happens. Your fault, not mine, not... AUGH!"

Marie looked behind her to see what was the matter with Ivan, but he had disappeared. She stood in the middle of the dark alley, suddenly felling very vulnerable and scared. "Who's there?" She called out.

Suddenly, she could sense something behind her, much bigger and probably tougher then herself. She turned around and saw a Prinplup, holding a large brown sack in one hand. "You two outta make good bait. Now, come nice and quiet, and I won't have to hurt you."

Marie was scared stiff, the Prinplup scooped her up inside the bag, then threw her beside a second which contained Ivan.

He picked up a radio and spoke into it. "Boss, its Maverick. I've captured two members of the Brotherhood, tomorrow I'll send a ransom note to another of their team, and demand that he bring us Lloyd."

"Good work Maverick, now even if Lloyd manages to escape the Academy, we've got the perfect Plan B. Hide out until tomorrow, I'll call you if our other operative fails her mission."

"Right, I'll be waiting." The radio went dead.

He walked over to the bags containing Marie and Ivan, and picked them up. Both squirmed inside, futilely trying to escape. "You both better behave, I only need one of you."


	27. Showdown with Sakura

Regarding Chapter 3: Mudkips... Not a ground type... Yeah, sorry, my mistake, I'll fix it when I get the chance. (For now, just imagine them as magic Mudkips.)

Chapter 27: Showdown with Sakura

Rita never stopped since they left the HQ, nobody got the chance to rest and Rita couldn't be persuaded to stop, even for a minute.

"I think my feet are falling off..." Said Isaac. He drank from a bottle of water that everyone carried with them, they took one each after walking for about an hour, the desert like wasteland was especially hot today.

"You think you got it bad?" Said Regal. "My feet are basically suction cups, you know how much it hurts walking on sand?!"

"Guys... Please be quiet... Your making my head hurt." Lloyd had one of Isaacs scarves soaked with cold water and wrapped around his head like Isaacs bandana in order to keep cool.

"Piplup are not meant for this kind of heat..."

"Neither are Caterpie..."

"Oh would you shut up!" Yelled Lloyd.

Everyone was quiet.

"Thank you!"

They all continued to walk, the sun beating down on their heads. Rita was the only one not phased by the heat.

_Wait a second... _Thought Lloyd. _Is that move, Synthesis, the reason she has so much energy?_

"Hey Rita!" She didn't respond, but Lloyd figured she wouldn't anyways. "Why aren't you tired like the rest of us?"

"I've been using Synthesis the whole time." She said, still walking.

"Can't we wait for a minute, the sun isn't so nice for the rest of us you know!"

"No, we're only an hour away, you can rest when we get there."

Lloyd sighed in disappointment. Isaac leaned over and whispered to Lloyd, "We could bury her you know. Go on without her, make her catch up for once."

Lloyd thought about it. "No, while we would get a chance to rest afterwards, I'm sure that would just make her angrier, much, much angrier."

"Well, if you change your mind, I'm ready whenever."

---

More time passed, and still no sign of the academy, and still no chance of resting. The wet scarf on Lloyds head was dry and crusted with dirt, and he was sweating buckets.

Regal tried to copy Lloyd idea of wearing a soaked scarf to keep cool, but they were so big that he couldn't keep the large bundle on his head for very long. Most of it was now dragging behind him, getting dirtier every minute.

"Guys..." Said Isaac. "I'm not gonna make it... Tell Jennifer I love her... Ahhh!" He fell face first in the sandy wasteland, doomed to die, his body to disappear...

"We're here." Said Rita.

Isaac got up. "Oh, good."

The academy was barely noticeable, it was built right next to a large, yellow cliff that had to go up a hundred feet. It was surrounded by similarly colored walls, the only door located in the middle, large red double doors with a very large, shiny object on the left door.

They got close to it and heard a lot of noise coming from within, it sounded like there was a small war going on inside the walls.

They got to the big, red doors. The metal object they spotted awhile ago was a large, ornate door knocker. Lloyd went over to knock with it, but the thing was so heavy he couldn't move it,

"Isaac, come help!" He said, still pulling the knocker.

Isaac came over and pulled as well, but even with his help it didn't budge.

"Here, I'll help!" Said Regal. He crawled up the wall, and pushed the knocker towards Isaac and Lloyd.

"I think its moving!"

"Heave!"

"Almost... Got it!"

Ding, dong!

Everyone looked to their right, Rita used the leaf on her head to push a button on the wall, a doorbell. "Honestly, you could have at least checked for a bell before you killed yourselves with that thing."

The three of them looked embarrassed.

"One minute!" Called a voice from beyond the door.

A small sliding door opened, the face of a Sandshrew looked at them through the small opening.

"How can I help you... lets see... three?"

Regal crawled up the door and looked through from the other side. "You forgot me idiot!"

"Oh, well, three and a half then."

"Half?!" Yelled Regal.

But the Sandshrew just flicked him off the wall. "What's your business here?"

Lloyd stepped forward. "We were sent by a guy named Edward, he hired us to fight a monster for you guys."

"Oh, yes. He was expecting you to arrive sooner, you guys are late. Better hurry in!" The shutter in the door closed, and soon after the door slowly began to swing open.

The plaza within the walls was enormous, the ground was a bright white and incredibly smooth stone, the only buildings at the very back of the academy. There was groups of different pokemon all over the place, gathered in circles watching two fight in the center. There was at least thirty of these circles, and each had a battle going on in the middle of them. Fire, electricity and water flew up into the air occasionally.

The Sandshrew now stood next to the door, waiting for them to enter. "Edward is in the largest building, the one in the middle, go there right away."

Everyone nodded as they walked by, when the Sandshrew turned his back, Regal snuck over to him and tackled him to the ground, then ran back before anyone in Team Valiant or the Sandshrew notice what he did. Regal laughed quietly as Sandshrew looked frantically around for his attacker.

---

"Come on Sakura! Finish him off!"

Two pokemon stood in the middle of one of the plazas any battle circles. Sakura, a Vulpix, stood opposite of her opponent, a Croconaw who was barely able to stand anymore.

She charged at him, head butted him right in the stomach, then exhaled a point-blank flamethrower, engulfing the Croconaw entirely. When her attack was done, her opponent wobbled slightly, then fell backwards, unconscious.

Everyone in the circle cheered.

"Way to go Sakura!"

"No wonder your top of the class!"

"Your so strong!"

"Yay Sakura!"

"Haha, thanks everyone!" Yelled Sakura, so everyone could hear her. "I'll take on anyone who wants to fight after I get some lunch, be right back!" She walked towards the edge of the circle, the pokemon parted way so she could pass.

_Like any of you could beat me, this whole school is full of weaklings!_

Sakura was about to open the door to the right side building, the cafeteria, when suddenly something caught her eye, a flash of green.

_It can't be..._

But it was, walking along with three others was a Chikorita, and a girl that Sakura knew very well.

_What is she doing here?!_

---

The interior of the building reminded Lloyd and Rita of the spa back in Havok City, the place was very decorative and welcoming, multiple paintings and photos decorated the nearby halls.

"Hello? How may I help you?" A Nidoking, barely able to fit inside the tight hallways, came in through a door at the far end of the front room. "Oh, you guys must be Team Valiant! Welcome, welcome!" He walked over towards them, knocking into a desk, sending a mug flying to the floor, crashing a breaking into pieces. "Oh dear." Another thing everyone noticed was this Nidoking was wearing glasses which barely fit on his face. He was definitely an old pokemon.

"Um, hi, we're Team Valiant, and we came to defeat this monster of yours." Said Lloyd, as Edward tried to pick of the pieces of the destroyed mug, his large fingers unable to grip them.

"Yes, of course." He fumbled again with a shard of the mug, then just flicked it away in frustration and stood up again. "There is one problem though..."

"What?" Asked Lloyd, wondering what could make a dangerous monster and kidnaped student worse.

"The whole thing was a prank it seems."

"What?!" Yelled everyone is surprise.

"Yes, one of the students, a friend of the apparently kidnaped, came and told us that the monster is not real and that the student is just hiding in there to play a joke on everyone."

"Well, great, now what?" Asked Isaac.

"Well, I guess I'll pay you the reward if you can go fetch the student, the cave is still rather dangerous and as I had written the school is far too busy to spare any teachers to go fetch her. Best make use of you since you're here, right?"

"Wait, if the cave is so dangerous, why is it your students seem to have no fear of going inside?" Asked Regal.

"He is one of our senior students I've heard, really, the only thing you need to do is go down there, tell him to smarten up and then come back with him."

Lloyd sighed, a little bit disappointed in the simplicity of the job. "Ok then, we'll go right away. Where is this cave?"

"Right beside the academy, outside the walls. Its called Echo Cavern, and its got a wide variety of wild pokemon inside, including Psychic and Ghost types! We use the cave for training sometimes, but only for the older stu... hey, where's your friend going?"

Lloyd, Isaac and Regal all turned around, just in time to the door close, Rita had apparently left the building. Lloyd ran out to follow her, and Regal and Isaac followed him.

"Oh." Said Edward, now alone. "Well, good luck then!" He began to walk out of the room, but ran into another desk, knocking over a vase of flowers. The vase smashed and water and glass flew in every direction. "Oh dear... not again!"

---

"What are you doing here Rita?"

Lloyd, Isaac and Regal walked out, finding themselves surrounded by a wide circle of pokemon, all looking at the two in the middle. Rita, standing with her back to her teammates, and a Vulpix, standing opposite to her, both looking ready to fight.

"I'm here for some payback!"

"Payback? Please Rita, its over for you, its been over for you for years!"

"No Sakura! Its not over! Not until I finally beat you!"

Lloyd went over to Rita and shock her gently, as if trying to wake her from sleep walking. "Rita, stop! Whats going on!?" Rita slapped Lloyd away with the leaf on her head, not looking away from Sakura. Lloyd was sent flying, landing in front of Regal and Isaac.

Regal look down at Lloyd and laughed. "Hurts, doesn't it?"

Lloyd just lied there and nodded.

"Rita, you'll never win a fight against me, I figured you'd have learned that by now." Sakura smiled mischievously. "I'm way outta your league."

Ritas eye twitched, something in her snapped. "You guys go now, go do the mission."

"But..." Started Lloyd. But Regal and Isaac covered his mouth before he could actually say anything.

"Don't Lloyd, leave her and lets just go!"

Lloyd nodded, he waved goodbye to Rita, but she didn't see it. The three of them pushed through the enormous audience and left without Rita.

"So, not gonna back down then?" Asked Sakura.

"Not a chance!"

"Well, lets get this over with then!"

They stared at each other, waiting for one to make a move, both waiting to counter what ever attack came at them. The crowd was loud, most cheered for Sakura, but neither could hear anything around them, only silence.

Suddenly, Sakura completely let down her guard, in fact she was now sitting down, not at all prepared for an attack. Rita didn't know what was going on but she knew she didn't want to waste an opportunity to attack, she leaped into the air, straight at Sakura.

At the very last moment, Sakura got up, and swung her body around, hitting Rita with her tail. Rita was sent flying, crashing into the hard stone of the academy square.

"Didn't I tell you Rita? You are, always have been and forever will be way out of my league, give up before you get hurt!"

Rita didn't respond, she got up and immediately charged at Sakura again.

"You never learn!" Sakura did a front flip when Rita got close. Her tail hit Rita again, instantly flooring her. She landed gracefully next to where Rita had fallen, the crowd around them cheered louder.

Rita looked up, Sakura had her back turned and was bowing to the audience, who was calling her name over and over.

Rita stood up and immediately attacked Sakura with a razor leaf attack, the distracted Sakura never saw it coming and was hit by each and every leaf. Before Sakura could recover, Rita tackled her to the ground.

Rita waited for Sakura to get back up so she could tackle her again, but before Rita could make a move, Sakura breathed in and exhaled a flamethrower attack. Rita braced herself, but nothing happened.

The ground around Sakura was burning, the light from the fire was so bright that Rita couldn't see Sakura anywhere. The fire suddenly died, and nothing remained when it once was, Sakura disappeared.

"Hey!" Rita heard Sakura's voice above her. Before Rita could even think of what to do, Sakura landed on top of her with all four feet, once again flooring Rita. Sakura stood on top of Rita and looked at her, bringing her face very close to Rita's. "I've learned some new tricks since we last fought, did you like it?"

Rita rolled back and forth, making Sakura lose her footing, making her fall off. Ritas swung the leaf down like an axe, hitting Sakura across the stomach.

"Enough talk Sakura, just fight!"

Rita stepped back so Sakura could get up. They once again stared at each other from opposite sides of the circle, but both breathed heavy from their injuries.

"I have an idea, why don't you follow me Rita!" Sakura turned suddenly and dashed off. Rita ran after her.

_Where is she going?!_

"Better keep up Rita!" The sandshrew gate guard saw them coming and scrambled to open the door. Sakura barely fit through the crack in the opening door, both her and Rita ran off into the wasteland.

---

After at least a half hour of running, Sakura finally stopped inside a sort of cave. One of the caves walls was full of naturally made holes, letting in plenty of sunlight making the interior shine a pale orange.

"So... Are..." Rita wanted to say "So, are you ready to continue yet?" But both she and Sakura were completely out of breath from the long sprint across the wasteland.

"One... Minute... Tired..." Said Sakura, both of them sat down, breathed heavy breaths, and after a few minutes fully recovered.

"As I was saying..." Began Rita. "Are you ready to continue yet?"

"Don't you know where we are?" Sakura said, still sitting down.

"Not really."

"This is the exact cave we fought in ten years ago."

Suddenly the cave became familiar. _It is the cave!_ Thought Rita. The whole event suddenly flashed through her head, clear as if it happened yesterday...

---

"Rita, stop being so selfish!" Said a younger Sakura. The two of them, ten years younger, stood inside the same cave they stood in present time.

"I'm not being selfish! I just think this school is a waste of time!"

"Waste of time?! The Pokemon Battle Academy is one of the last and best schools of fighting! I'm lucky I even found the money to pay for it!"

"Its pointless! What can they teach you that you cant teach yourself fighting wild pokemon in the mystery dungeons? Not only that, but there's the chance of finding treasure while were exploring!" The leaf on Ritas head was much smaller ten years ago, and she had to blow it away from her face whenever she finished speaking.

"Rita, life is not about chance, I want to be the best I can be before I go around risking my life for anything or anyone! Especially not for some selfish little princess like you!"

Rita didn't say anything.

"What's the matter? Hmm? Say something!" Yelled Sakura.

Rita's response wasn't with words, but with a razor leaf, sent flying towards Sakura. Not expecting an attack, Sakura wasn't able to avoid it at all, and the sharp leaf struck her right across the face.

Sakura reached up to touch the spot where the leaf had hit, there was a very small, but still noticeable cut across down from her nose almost all the way to her left eye. It didn't hurt, but the fact Rita attacked her filled Sakura with rage. She inhaled deep, and countered with a small but painful ember attack, sending small sparks of flame in Ritas direction.

Rita saw the attack coming and rolled left to avoid it, causing her to crash into a rock. Sakura fired another ember, this time hitting Rita right in the face, blinding her for a second.

The leaf on Ritas head had caught fire, she had to put it out right away. She immediately dive bombed into a pile of sand and smothered the flame, putting it out before it did any damage.

"Sakura! I can't heal this thing on my head you know! If you burned it would be like that forever!"

"Oh please, you could evolve and that thing wouldn't even be there anymore, that razor leaf could have scarred me even if I evolved!"

"Its your fault, you called me a spoiled little princess!"

"That's because you are! All you think about is yourself and expect everyone to do what you want them to do, I'm sick of it Rita!"

"Whatever, lets just finish this!" She said, following up swiftly with another razor leaf.

The two of them fought like this for over an hour, both relied heavily on their ranged moves, occasionally running in for a quick tackle when the other was distracted somehow.

Right around the two hour mark, Sakura tackled Rita hard, sending her flying into a wall. Rita slide down and collapsed onto a soft mound of coarse sand. She tried to get back up and continue fighting, but she fell back down instantly, and didn't bother to try to get up again.

Sakura began to quietly walk out of the cave, almost as if nothing had happened. Just before she left, she turned to Rita, still laying down, injured. "Rita, if one day you realize just how stupid you were today, I'll be at the academy, waiting for my apology, otherwise I never wanna see your face again."

Tears formed in both of their eyes, neither wanted the friendship between them to end this way, but what was done was done, as of now, they were enemies and bitter rivals.

---

"So Rita, what's it gonna be?"

Reality suddenly kicked in for Rita again. The setting was still familiar, but it was ten long years later and both had become a lot stronger since then.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, are we gonna continue with your second thrashing, or are you going to finally apologize for being a spoiled little..."

"Princess?" Rita giggled. "I think after this fight, I need to update you on a few things. I say we do both."

"Both?"

"I'm offering a wager. You used to be so firm in your belief that this school was the best way to get strong, If you beat me, I'll gladly say I'm sorry for everything. But if I win, you have to admit that I had the right idea, and you have to come with me."

"Come with you? Why?"

"I'm not as selfish as you might think, I've joined the Brotherhood, and for the last week, I've been going around helping pokemon all over the place!"

"Huh, fine, I graduate tomorrow anyways! It's a deal then, if by some random chance I lose to you, I'll join your little team!"

"Then..." Rita paused. "Lets do this."

For the third time in their lives, they stared at each other, tensions high, the only sound either could hear was the faint breeze blowing through the cave.


	28. Echo Cavern

Profile Page Update (Go read!)

Chapter 28: Echo Cavern

Lloyd, Isaac and Regal had no trouble locating the cave, it was so close to the school they could still hear the ambient noise that came from the square.

"I wonder why they call it echo cavern?" Asked Isaac.

"I wonder why they call it echo cavern wonder why they call it echo cavern call it echo cavern echo cavern cavern..." The cave responded.

"Well that's gonna get annoying." Said Regal, his tiny Caterpie voice not loud enough to cause an echo.

"Lets hurry." Whispered Lloyd. "I'm worried about Rita and that other girl, we should get back as soon as possible."

Regal and Isaac nodded.

---

Lloyd, Isaac and Regal walked through the rocky cave, each footstep belonging to Lloyd or Isaac clapped loudly, Regal once again was silent compared to the others, his suction-cup feet making no sound as he crawled along.

"Have either of you ever fought a psychic pokemon before?" Asked Isaac. The cave repeated his words several times.

"Me and Rita fought a ghost type, that's probably pretty similar. I'm more worried about this monster that was rumored to be here."

"I thought that was just a joke pulled by this student?" Asked Regal.

"I'm pretty sure he was using the rumor to pull this prank, I doubt they would make such a big a deal as to call us down if this monster was just made up recently."

"So that means there could be some bloodthirsty beast hiding somewhere, ready to attack us when we least expect?" Isaac tried to hide the fear in his voice, the cave repeated his words loud enough to make the emotion obvious.

"Listen." Said Lloyd. "I'm not saying we should panic, lets just be cautious, keep our eyes open and try not to attract to much attention."

Ironically, the words "attract too much attention." echoed loud and repeatedly. The replicated voice was followed by the sounds of growling, there was wild pokemon nearby and they knew where the team was.

"Umm... Whoops."

From the two adjoining hallways came two pokemon, an Abra and a Ralts. While not the most powerful of their type, everyone knew that they were still powerful.

"Ok, time for a plan. Umm..." Lloyd looked around, trying to figure out the best course of action. "Regal and Isaac, you guys go after the Abra, I'll take on the Ralts, you come help me when the Abra's beaten."

"Got it." Said Isaac, Regal only nodded.

They all ran towards their given opponent, but stopped half way when Regal sudden found himself floating in the air.

"Ahhhh, help!" He cried out to Isaac, who was standing next to him. Isaac grabbed him and tried to pull him down. The Ralts lifted his hand up, and Regal did the same, rising towards the ceiling with Isaac holding on to him.

Lloyd sighed, then ran towards the Ralts. Just before it noticed Lloyd, Lloyd charged up and unleashed a thunderbolt in its direction. The Ralts couldn't dodge within the tight quarters of the hallway, and was unable to avoid the incoming attack. The electricity hit the Ralts, shocked it, and it tumbled forward, fainted.

Unfortunately, Regal, as well as the clinging Isaac, were all the way to the ceiling when Lloyd attacked the Ralts. Isaac landed on the ground on his butt, while Regal landed on Isaac, making Isaac faceplant into the ground.

The Abra extended his arm out towards Regal, like Ralts had done before, and levitated Regal. Instead of raising him into the air though, he forced Regal to straighten out his whole body, and like a missile, launched him speedily towards Lloyd.

Lloyd sidestepped Regal and grabbed him by the tail, he barely managed to stop Regal from pulling him with him and managed to stop Regal completely.

"Oh, thank you so much Lloyd, I..." But before Regal could finish, Lloyd swung Regal around in a three hundred and sixty degree arc, then threw him with all his strength at the Abra.

Regal yelled the entire distance, flying at the Abra so quickly it was unable to stop him with another psychic attack. Much like the Abra tried to do to Lloyd, it was hit hard by a flying head butt from Regal. Regal bounce off the Abras head, landing somewhat gracfully a foot in front of it, and the Abra fell in the opposite direction, knocked out from the sudden blow.

"Whew, that was close." Said Lloyd. "Good job everyone!"

"Yes, yes. But next time, can we not use me as a weapon?" Said Regal, shaking some dist of of him.

Lloyd laughed.

"Hey..." Started Isaac. "Did either of you hear that?"

"Hear what?" They both asked.

"Just listen..."

They did hear something, it was more growling. The growling sounded like it came from many wild pokemon, and they were fairly close by.

"This isn't good!" Said Regal, his voice full of panic. "What will we do Lloyd?"

Lloyd didn't respond.

"Lloyd?!"

"Huh? What?"

"Stop day dreaming, we gotta get out of here!" Yelled Isaac.

The growls sounded again, much closer and coming from all sides.

"But we gotta find that student!" Said Lloyd, pointing in the direction of the hallway they originally planned to go through to get father in the cave.

"Do we have an escape orb?" Asked Isaac.

Lloyd quickly looked through the bag, he pulled out one of the orbs. "Got one right here. So, we'll keep going and if things go wrong, all signal you all to come close and we'll get outta here."

"Got it." Said both Regal and Isaac.

---

Bursts of fire and clusters of razor sharp leaves flew in every direction. Rita and Sakura fought much like they had the last time, relying heavily on ranged moves over anything physical, only now their aim was far more accurate, and they dodge much more swiftly.

Sakura shot a flamethrower right towards Rita, but Rita dodged it by leaping straight at Sakura. In mid-air Rita launched three consecutive razor leaf attacks. Rita expected the attack to hit, but Sakura duplicated her disappearing trick that she used in the square. At the last second Sakura redirected her flamethrower downwards, engulfing and hiding her in a small pillar of fire. Ritas razor leaf went right through the flame, landing on the other side then turning to ash.

Sakura appeared out of nowhere beside Rita and attacked again, Rita dodged again but wasn't able to counter attack in mid-air like before.

_How is she disappearing like that? She's no psychic, she can't teleport!_

"So Rita, do you like that little vanishing act of mine?" Sakura laughed. "My teacher taught it to me personally. You could have learned stuff like that too if you weren't so thick headed and joined with me!"

"Grr, I'll show you!"

_This move has got to be an illusion or something..._

Rita decided to test the effectiveness of Sakura's disappearing, Rita launched dozens of her leaves in every direction around where Sakura was, then fired a final razor leaf right at Sakura.

As Rita expected, Sakura burned the ground around her in preparation, the fire engulfed her once again just as the storm of leaves reached the area she stood. Each and every razor leaf either bounce off the rocky wall, or burned up within the pillar of fire.

"Face it Rita." Said Sakura, who was now behind Rita. "You can't beat me, my natural fighting ability and education is too much for you!"

_Oh, I'll find a way Sakura, I promise you that!_

---

Lloyd, Isaac and Regal ran through a long, straight tunnel. They all heard the growls and footsteps of approaching pokemon behind them.

Another Abra jumped out from a small crevice in the wall, Lloyd sped up and tackled it before it could use any of its dangerous psychic attacks. It flew into the wall and slumped down to the ground, not even slowing down Lloyd as he led the others to what they all hoped would be safety.

Light filled the room thanks to a hole in the ceiling, the remains of it piled just below creating a small rocky pile in the exact center of the room. On top of that pile was a Growlithe, jumping up and down trying to get through the hole and escape.

"Are you the student from the school?" Lloyd yelled as soon as he stopped.

"Yeah, I am, who are you?"

"My names Lloyd, my team is from the Brotherhood and we're here to help you!"

The Growlithe was about to say something, but suddenly the right side wall exploded out and spilled across the floor. On the other side was an Alakazam, and dozens of other psychic pokemon. The Alakazam had just blown a hole in the wall using what must have been a very powerful attack.

"Ahhh! I'm out of here!" Yelled the Growlithe, he leapt off the pile of rocks, past Team Valiant and ran down the hall they had just came from.

The Alakazam pointed a finger at Team Valiant and shot a large purple beam, a Psybeam, right towards them, barely missing Isaac.

Without a word, the three of them turned and ran after the Growlithe. The wild pokemon ran after them, flooding the tunnel behind Team Valiant.

Everyone turned at the corner, Isaac was ahead, with Regal close behind. Lloyd hadn't noticed how tired he was until the chase began, the electric attacks he used on the wild pokemon they encountered earlier used up a lot of his energy.

They came to another corner, Isaac and Regal whipped right by, not looking back. But Lloyd stumbled and tripped just before reaching the corner. Isaac and Regal, not noticing Lloyd's fall, kept running without him, not knowing he was gone.

Lloyd rolled over onto his back and looked behind him, the wild pokemon were only twenty feet away and were closing fast.

Lloyd closed his eyes and shielded his face with his arm. Suddenly he got a weird feeling all over his body, at first he thought it was one of the psychic attacks trying to levitate him. But then he realized the sensation was familiar, something he felt before. He opened his eyes and saw his paw was different, bigger and orange and black, instead of yellow.

He was a Raichu again.

He got up and flexed his arms. "Haha, finally! I missed being evolved!"

He saw the wild pokemon coming at him still, not five feet away. He jumped over them, watching them stop and look up at him in awe, then showered them all with a powerful blast of thunder bolt. At least a dozen of them were hit, and all of them were knocked out, collapsing to the ground.

Before landing, he extended his foot and kicked another Ralts, sending it flying into a group of his allies. When Lloyd landed, he looked around him and saw the wild pokemon were afraid of him, they never expected Lloyd, once an easy target, to get so powerful so quick.

Several of the wild pokemon turned tail and ran, while the others just sat down and defended themselves, shaking with fear.

"What's wrong guys?" Asked Lloyd, amused by their sudden change in attitude. "Afraid of a fair fight?" Lloyd didn't know whether or not they understood him, but once they heard his loud, deep voice the remaining few joined their fleeing comrades, leaving Lloyd alone in the caverns hall.

Lloyd looked at his paws, his feet, his long tail, and sighed. "I wish I could just stay like this..." Lloyd balled his paws into fists. "I'm so much more powerful, I feel like I could take on the world!"

Suddenly, as if possessed, his own fist came at him and punched him in the nose.

"Ow! What the...?" Lloyd looked around, the Alakazam from before was here, hand raised, ready to use his powers.

Lloyds fist came at him again, Lloyd tilted his head and dodged it. "Stop doing that!" He yelled. But the Alakazam wasn't about to listen to him. With another subtle hand gesture, Lloyds feet both shot out in separate directions, forcing him to fall over on his face.

Lloyd pushed himself up and spat out some dirt, he didn't want to get controlled again so he shot out a thunder bolt at the Alakazam before it could do anything.

The Alakazam just stood there, and just before the electricity hit him, he waved his hand again. The thunder bolt changed direction, and was sent harmlessly down into the ground, sending a small amount of dirt flying in every direction.

Lloyd tried again, but the same thing happened, the Alakazam swatted the electricity away before it got to him, this time sending it into the wall, cause a small sized hole and another shower of dirt.

Lloyd suddenly got an idea. He fired the thunder bolt upwards, towards the ceiling that was right between the both of them. The Alakazam looked confused but did nothing. The dust from the ceiling fell, making both pokemon unable to see the other.

Lloyd ran forward and leapt towards Alakazam just as he reached the dust cloud. Alakazam wasn't expecting the sudden attack and didn't have time to use his psychic attacks. Lloyd leapt onto Alakazam and floored him, then followed up by unleashing his thunder bolt straight down.

Alakazam looked forward, raised his arm slowly, then let it drop back down, it's head tilted and eyes closed, Alakazam was out for the count.

"Lloyd?!" Said a voice.

It was Isaac. He was coming his way.

_Oh, NOW you notice I'm gone._

"I'm over here!" Lloyd called back.

Lloyd was happy to finally be able to leave. He stepped off of Alakazam, but stopped when he felt yet another strange sensation.

"_Hello Lloyd, miss me?"_

It was Shadows voice.

_Shadow? What do you want?_

"_Well, I figured out a solution to my little problem... A loophole._

_Loophole? What do you..._

Suddenly Lloyd was in a great amount of pain, he got down on his hands and knees. He tried to yell but he couldn't make even the slightest sound out of his mouth.

"_It seems my prediction was correct, what ever that annoying glowing ball did to you to prevent me from controlling you, doesn't seem to work on you while you evolved. Now I can have my fun again! Isn't this great news?"_

_No... Shadow... Please..._

"_It's too bad you called your friends over, you just made killing them so much easier!"_ Shadow laughed within Lloyds mind.

Lloyd saw as the black fog that covered shadow slowly began to appear. Lloyd didn't have much time before he lost control. He tried to yell to Isaac and Regal to get away, to just run and leave him, but nothing came out.

Lloyd fell forward, and his vision quickly faded to black, the last thing he heard before he was completely taken over was the approaching footsteps of Isaac and Regal.


	29. Trapped

Chapter 29: Trapped

"Lloyd?"

"Hey Lloyd, say something so we can find you!"

Isaac and Regal got no response. The whole cave was eerily silent.

"Why isn't he saying anything Regal?"

"Like I know! Lets just look around, last we saw him he wasn't far from the entrance."

Isaac and Regal walked cautiously down the halls of echo cavern. The whole place felt different somehow, but neither Isaac nor Regal could figure out why.

"Look, over here Regal!" Isaac waved him over to a certain spot by the wall. When Regal got there, Isaac pointed out a large scorch mark in the wall. "Lloyd must have fought those psychic guys here!"

"Well, where is he now?"

Isaac just shrugged. "He couldn't have gone far, lets look around for him."

They both heard a crash echo through the cave.

"What was that?!" Asked Regal, startled by the noise.

"Hello?!" Called Isaac, hoping that it was Lloyd. "Come on Lloyd, this isn't funny!"

Another loud crash, this time closer. It sounded like something was smashing up the inside of the cave. They turned towards the sound.

"I don't think that's Lloyd making that noise Isaac."

Isaac rolled his eyes. "Gee, you really think so Re..." Isaac tried to say.

But suddenly, the wall behind them exploded out, showering them both with large chunks of rock and filled the whole room with dust. Neither of them could see what came through the wall, and both of them began to panic.

Something came straight for Isaac, he couldn't see what it was but he knew it was dangerous, so he dived away before whatever was attacking them got close.

Regal, unfortunately, lacked the same amount of reflexes as Isaac, and could do nothing but wait for the attack to hit him.

Isaac aimed at Regal and fired a bubble attack right at him. Without a second to spare the bubble hit Regal, sending him flying across the room, while a black figure flew right by the spot where Regal once was.

Regal got up off the ground, only slightly dazed by Isaacs attack. "Thank you Isaac!"

"Don't mention it."

The dust began to settle, Isaac and Regal finally saw who they were fighting.

The pokemon was very strange, like none either had ever seen before. It was at least twice the height of Isaac, with a long tail and long ears, and its entire body was covered in a black smoke, almost as if it burning up in a dark flame.

They saw that the strange pokemon wasn't moving from the wall, it just stood there moving back and forth. Both Isaac and Regal slowly walked to the side so they could see what the dark pokemon was doing. From what both could tell, it had its entire right hand stuck in the wall, it must have done that when it missed Regal.

_Good thing Isaac got me away from him, if it has enough strength to punch through the wall like that I could only imagine what would have happened to me!_ Thought Regal.

"Wait a second!" Said Isaac. "This looks a lot like that pokemon Lloyd evolved into!"

"Wait, what?" Regal was rather confused about how Lloyd evolved into such a large pokemon when he was half its size last time he saw Lloyd.

"Awhile ago, before Lloyd and Rita went to Oasis Island, Lloyd evolved into a pokemon called Raichu. It was the same size, and had the same ears and tail, but Lloyd was mostly orange."

The beastly pokemon turned to them, and stared at them with its blood red eyes. "Oh, you two have no idea do you?" He pulled his arm right out of the wall, sending debris flying in all directions. "Some friend Lloyd is, keeping such a big secret from all his friends."

"What are you talking about? How do you know Lloyd?"

"Oh, I know Lloyd very well, we're like brothers him in I. Very close indeed!" The dark pokemon laughed. "It's a pleasure to meet you both."

Unexpectedly, the pokemon gave a slight bow.

Isaac and Regal didn't lower their guard for even a second, thinking this pokemon was trying to trick them into giving it the perfect opportunity to attack.

"My name is Shadow. Not that it matters, since you're both going to die very soon..." Shadow laughed, and slowly walked towards Isaac and Regal. They both backed away just as slowly, but it wasn't long till they had to stop, as they just bumped up against what they now realized was a dead end. They had no way to escape from this new threat.

Isaac managed to remain fairly calm, but he saw Regal was shaking like mad, his eyes wide with fear. "Don't worry." Isaac began. "It's gonna be..."

Suddenly, Regal shot out a white thread from his mouth. A sticky string shot that was one of the bug pokemons most well know attacks. The string shot hit Shadow right in his glowing red eyes, blinding him. Isaac couldn't tell if Regal meant to do that, but he was glad he did.

"Oh, that always happens when I get startled..."

"It's a good thing too! Now come on, lets get out of here!"

While Shadow desperately tried to clean the gunk of his face, Isaac and Regal both bolted passed him towards the hallway that led out of Echo Caves.

"Not so fast! You're not getting away from me!" Cried Shadow. Just before Isaac and Regal reached the tunnel towards freedom, Shadow unleashed an enormous thunder bolt, which barely missed both of them and struck the ceiling above their destination.

Isaac and Regal stopped, barely avoiding the small cave in that would have crushed them both, and thanks to that cave in, had lost their quickest route out.

They turned towards the only other hallway, but Shadow had managed to clear out his eyes enough to see that they were trying to escape, and fired another thunderbolt at the second tunnel before either could even start running towards it.

Both exits were now sealed and Isaac and Regal were trapped in the tight spaced room with Shadow.

The whole room was now pitch black, the only thing that illuminated the room was the occasional spark of electricity escaping Shadow, harmlessly hitting the floor.

"I guess I underestimated you both." Said Shadow. "Nobodies ever gotten so close to escaping before. Kudos to you both." Shadow mockingly applauded them both as he walked towards them. "Its just to bad it has to end here."

Shadow suddenly leapt forward, right at Isaac. His arm suddenly glowed bright with electricity, Shadow was about to use a super powered version of thunder punch. Isaac got ready to defend the blow, his wings raised in front of his face, but he knew it was pointless to do so.

"Now die!" Yelled Shadow.

Isaac closed his eyes and waiting for the attack to hit.

But suddenly, Regal leapt towards Shadow with an un characteristic level of courage. He lowered his head and crashed into the unsuspecting Shadow, knocking him out of the air.

Shadow spun in mid-air and swung his electric charged fist at Regal, hitting him square in the face. Both Regal and Shadow crashed, each hitting the walls at each end of the cavern.

"Regal!" Cried Isaac, running over to the fallen Caterpie. "Are you hurt?"

Regal just moaned.

"Come on, you gotta get up!" Isaac tried to gently shake Regal awake, but he didn't move a muscle. "Regal, come on, I need your help!"

Isaac looked over his shoulder, still shaking Regal to wake him. He saw Shadow slowly get up off the ground from where he fell, it wouldn't be long before Shadow would attack again.

_I have to think of something... Quickly._ Isaac looked around the room, he couldn't see much because of the darkness.

Shadow was now standing, and looking right at Isaac. "You're really starting to make me angry!" Yelled Shadow. Large sparks flew off his body, flying in every direction, the whole room smelled like the air after of huge thunderstorm.

Shadow leapt forward and shot at Isaac like a torpedo, barely missing Isaac who managed to duck underneath. Shadow punched the wall with so much force that the entire room vibrated, causing dirt to fall from the ceiling.

Before Isaac could get up, Shadow slammed a fist down where Isaacs head was. Isaac once again barely managed to avoid the attack, rolling to side. The room once again vibrated from the blow, even more dirt rained down.

After missing twice, Shadow was filled with rage. "This ends here!" Shadow stood in the middle of the cavern and began to charge what Isaac figured was going to be a devastating attack. Isaac knew this electric attack would probably kill him, so he prepared himself to jump, hoping he could leap out of the way of the attack. He stood there, body tense, waiting for the right moment.

With a yell as loud as the thunder he unleashed, Shadow fired a beam of electricity at Isaac. The room filled with so much light that neither Isaac nor Shadow could see anything.

Before Shadow could look and see if he had hit his target, the cave began fill with heavy rocks, the ceiling was caving in on all three of them thanks to Shadows deadly thunder. Soon what used to be a dark, sealed off section of Echo Cavern became nothing but dirt, dust and rocks.

---

Rita and Sakura continued to battle, both looked extremely exhausted, but neither looked ready to give in.

Both had visible damage done to each other. Rita had a large hole burned in the leaf on her head, which would take weeks to heal, while Sakura was covered in small cuts caused by Ritas razor leaf, the worst was on her leg which slowed Sakura down quite a bit.

Just before they attacked once again, both heard a loud rumble and looked to their left, towards the sound.

"What was that?" Asked Rita.

"It came from around the academy, sounds like one of the caves collapsed."

"What?! No! But all my friends are in their!" Rita started to run out, but Sakura jumped ahead and stopped her.

"What about our fight?"

Rita just shoved her out of the way and ran right by. "We'll finish later!" She yelled back as she ran.

Sakura shook her head and ran after Rita.

---

"Everyone get inside and search the cave, their might be people hurt in there!" Edward, the old Nidoking who ran the academy, stood outside the cave issuing orders to a large group of pokemon.

Just as Rita and Sakura arrived, everyone had gone in.

Edward looked in their direction. "Sakura!" He yelled. "Thank goodness you're safe! I thought you had gone with them or something!"

"No Sir, I was with this girl, doing... something else." Said Sakura, not mentioning the fight. Rita figured that their battle was against one of the academys rules or something. "What happened?" Sakura finally asked.

"We don't know yet, all we know is that one of the caves have collapsed. One of the students, came out, but the team we sent to rescue him didn't, and not long ago there was a cave in. We don't know if those Brotherhood members are ok or not, so I've sent in whatever teachers we're free to search the place."

After Edward finished explaining the situation, Rita ran inside without a word or second glance.

"Wait!" Yelled Edward. "You can't go in there!" But it was too late, Rita was gone.

Sakura suddenly ran inside as well.

"Sakura, stop!" But, like Rita, Sakura was already long gone and inside Echo Cavern."

Edward sighed. "Why does nobody listen to me anymore? Kids these days..."

---

Sakura found Rita, who had stopped in front of a split path. She looked frantically between the two, obviously not knowing the correct path.

"Hey, wait." Began Sakura. "You can't just run through here without knowing where you're going, you'll just get lost."

"I don't care." Said Rita, not even looking at Sakura. "My friends might be in trouble right now and I have to help!"

Sakura saw no point in arguing. "That's fine, but at least let me lead the way."

Rita turned to face Sakura. "Why would you help me? Why don't you just go back to the academy or something?"

"Because I don't want to put other pokemon at risk because of our silly little fight!"

Rita suddenly looked thoughtful, what Sakura just said definitely had impact. "You're right... I'm sorry. Please, help me get to them, help me get them out in one piece."

Sakura was surprised that Rita gave up so quickly, before Rita would fight to the death her right to argue everything with that came out of Sakuras mouth. "Ah... All right then."

Sakura stepped ahead of Rita. She looked down both paths, and smelled the air. "Left... Yeah, definitely left."

"How can you tell?"

"Cave ins make the air smell thick and give it a very distinct earthy scent. It shouldn't be hard to find where the cave in happened, the smell will get stronger as we get closer."

"You can smell the cave in?" Asked Rita, surprised.

"Vulpix are one of the many species pokemon with above average senses, not nearly as good as say a growlithe or arcanine, but still better then most pokemon. Now come on, lets hurry."

"Right, and... Sakura?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks a lot for doing this..."

Once again, Ritas words surprised Sakura, she stared at Rita with her mouth slightly open. "Umm, yeah, its no problem."

_Wow, Ritas changed herself quite a bit, I barely even recognize her anymore._

Both Sakura and Rita ran down the hall, towards the cave in, hoping to get their in time to rescue Lloyd, Isaac and Regal.


	30. Lloyds Guardian

Chapter 30: Lloyds Guardian

Lloyd woke up feeling cold and weak. He didn't remember much of what happened during Shadows take over, only what happened at the end. All of them, Isaac, Regal and himself all were buried within Echo Cavern.

_Then why am I not buried?_

"Lloyd..." A voice called out to him.

He looked up, and saw a strange green pokemon above him, which was holding up the unstable rock above, preventing it from falling and crushing them. He couldn't believe it at first, but he was looking right at the legendary pokemon, Celebi.

Lloyd tried to ask, "Who are you?", but what actually came out was a familiar, impossible to understand baby talk. He took a moment to look at his paws, and saw that he had transformed once again into a Pichu.

_Ugh... Not again..._

"Do not worry Lloyd, let the words form in your mind and I will hear them, like always."

_Wait a sec... That voice... You're the one who's been helping me?_

"Yes. I was the voice, the ball of light, your guardian for quite some time."

The rocks above Celebi began to slowly descend, she pushed up harder, and the decent stopped.

_What's wrong?_

"I'm using all of my power to hold up the rocks, but I don't have the strength the hold out much longer."

_What about Isaac and Regal? Are they ok?_

"See for yourself, they are right beside you."

Lloyd looked where his friends were.

Isaac seemed fine, a few scratches and a small bump on the head. He couldn't see Regal, who was on the other side of Isaac, so Lloyd had to crawl over to see him.

"Some of the rocks fell on your Piplup friend, but I managed to save him before he was buried. He's very lucky."

Regal on the other hand, had changed significantly, he was no longer the Regal that Lloyd was used to. Regal was in a totally new form, his evolved form, a Metapod.

_Wow, when did this happen?_

"Your friend evolved after he struck Shadow, Isaac likely didn't notice since the transformation occurred right as Shadow unleashed the attack that brought down the mountain."

_I'm just glad they're safe._

"Yes... Now Lloyd, listen to me. Do you know the place where you were originally found? Where you were rescued by that Chikorita?"

_Not really, only what Rita told me about it._

"I need you to go there, as soon as possible. Then from there go north until you see a large, white building. In there you will find some of the answers you seek."

_But how do we get out of here?_

"I'll teleport you outside, when you get out, wait there because your friend is on her way."

_What about you?_

"I'm weak enough as it is, once you three are sent out safely, I predict my energy to completely run out."

_That means... No, you can't do this!_

"I'm sorry Lloyd, it is the only way. Please, do as I have requested, go to the building north of the ruins."

_No, please, don't sacrifice yourself like this!_

"Good luck on the rest of your journey Lloyd. Stay safe."

Before Lloyd could protest further, him and his friends were all engulfed in a bright white light. The light became so intense that Lloyd was forced to close his eyes.

When he finally opened his eyes, he was outside where the cave in occurred, a great barrier of rock stood between him and where he once was. His friends, Isaac and Regal, were right beside him, both silent and unmoving. The only thing missing was the Celebi, to whom Lloyd only had really met moments ago.

Lloyd was overwhelmed by what had just happened, he wondered why a legendary pokemon would help him, what could he possibly be worth? What could he possibly do that could warrant the attention?

_Nothing... I don't even know who I am, I can't do anything..._

Suddenly, Lloyd glowed bright, and after a few moments, evolved into Pikachu again.

_What the? Why did I evolve?_

Soon after evolving, he glowed again and evolved a second time into Raichu. The sensation of evolving twice in a row made him feel very strange.

"_Lloyd, don't go thinking I'm doing this for anyone but me, I'm sure you'll find out why I need to do this in the future. For now, just stay quiet."_

The voice belonged to Shadow, but something was different, he sounded disappointed about something, almost sounded like he was... worried?

Before Lloyd could reply or resist, the same dark fog that engulfed Shadows body slowly consumed Lloyd, and once again, for the second time that day, Shadow took over.

---

Isaac opened his eyes, and instantly his whole body burned with pain. He closed his eyes again, hoping by some miracle that the pain would go away as long as he kept them close, but the pain didn't leave him.

_Where am I?_

Slowly he remembered what had happened. Him and Regal were attacked by... something, and eventually the fight with this creature caused a cave in to bury them all.

_Then why am I out here? Why am I not still buried?_

He sat up, despite his body protesting this by increasing the pain, and he looked around.

Neither of the pokemon beside him were pokemon he's met before. To his left was a small, yellow pokemon that looked quite a bit like Lloyd, only smaller. Isaac didn't know what to assume about this tiny, unconscious pokemon.

The other was a large green pokemon, it looked like some kind of strange shaped egg. Isaac then clued in that this wasn't an egg of any kind, it was a Metapod, the evolution of Caterpie.

_Did Regal evolve? Wow... I never even noticed._

"Good for you, Regal!"

Isaac wanted to reach out to Regal, but when he extended out his little wing like arms, even a little bit, his shoulder stung a lot, his shoulder must have been broken or something.

"Don't worry, I'll get you and whoever this little guy is out of here... somehow."

Isaac tried to stand up, and eventually managed, but his entire body hurt so bad he had to sit back down after a few seconds.

As he sat down, the little yellow pokemon began to glow.

Isaac didn't say anything, he just watched as the little pokemon became larger, and assumed a form Isaac was very familiar with. It was the same pokemon Lloyd was, Pikachu.

Isaac was about to say something, but the pokemon evolved again, and grew into Raichu.

_Its gotta be Lloyd, he's got that strange evolution thing going on. But why is he here with us? Did he pull us out?_

"Um... Lloyd?"

But Lloyd completely ignored him. He just, stood up and didn't say a word.

"Lloyd? Are you ok?"

Lloyd ignored him again. Isaac stood up, tried to suppress as much of the stinging pain he felt as he could, and walked over to him. Isaac was about to tap Lloyd shoulder, with the arm that he hadn't tried using earlier (and hoped this one wasn't also broken), but Lloyd fell forward just as Isaac approached.

"Ah, what's wrong?!"

Isaac was horrified at what happened next. Out of nowhere, a dark shadowy fog began to consume Lloyds body, the same darkness that covered the body of Shadow.

_Wait a sec... Raichu would be right about the same size as Shadow... And Shadow used several electric attacks!_

Isaac got down on the ground where he had awaken earlier, and stayed quite, hoping Lloyd or Shadow or whoever he was looking at wouldn't notice him.

_It can't be... Lloyd... My friend... Is this monster?_

---

Shadow stood before the cave in that he had caused. He began to charge up electricity, then unleashed it all at the rocks. His attack had no effect, and was absorbed into the earth.

"No!"

He tried again, this time he charged longer, and unleashed an even more powerful attack.

Again, nothing happened.

"I'm... too weak."

"_Shadow, what the heck are you doing?_"

_Wait... Lloyd? How are you speaking to me?!_

"_Are you... You are aren't you! Your trying to save the Celebi!"_

_And what if I am? What business is it to you?_

"_Why? Why would you try to save her?"_

_Lloyd, if I wanted you to know, you would know, now shut up!_

"_But I want to help her too! Let me take control again I could do it as Raichu!"_

_No! I'll do this myself!_

Shadow charged his body a third time, even longer then the first two times, and unleashed the built of electricity at the rocks once again. Like before, it had no effect.

Shadow fell forward, landing on his hands and knees. His breathing was loud and harsh, and his arms trembled, wanting to give way and let his body fall to the ground.

_She's... Dying..._

"She's still alive? How can you tell?"

_I... just do. Lloyd... I'm giving you control, free her... please!_

Shadow could only imagine what Lloyd was thinking of him right now. On his hands and knees, barely any life left in him, begging for him to save someone despite Shadows history of murder.

Shadow laughed. "How... Pathetic of me." He then fell forward, and allowed Lloyd to resume control.

---

Lloyd figured his body would exhausted, since even Shadow had problems doing anything. But Lloyd felt fine, no pain, wasn't tired, he was in perfect condition.

_Why was Shadow so weak then?_

Lloyd looked at his body, the darkness was gone, and he was still a Raichu.

He wasn't no time, that Celebi was in grave danger and Lloyd needed to act fast. Much like Shadow tried earlier, Lloyd charged his body full of electricity. He let himself get as powerful as possible, then fired a gigantic thunder bolt at the rocks where the cave in occurred. Rock debris flew everywhere, barely missing Lloyd, and both Isaac and Regal, who have yet to wake up since Lloyd had found them beside him.

There was a large hole where the thunder bolt had struck, Lloyd heard the roof above rumble, ready to collapse once again, so Lloyd ran over and dug where he thought the Celebi was. A few seconds of digging, and Lloyd felt something that wasn't a rock and pulled it out with one big tug. It was the Celebi, still breathing.

The pull caused him to fall back, pulling the Celebi with him. The mountain gave way once again to fill the hole Lloyd created.

"Looks like your gonna be all right." He said softly to the Celebi, who he held up in his arms, cradling her like a newborn.

Lloyd, as far as he knew, never seen a legendary pokemon up close before. Even in her weakened state, Lloyd could feel, almost sense, the power and strength this Celebi was capable of.

_And you were ready to give it all up for me... Thank you._

Lloyd placed the Celebi down carefully, placing her next to Isaac and Regal.

"_Well done Lloyd."_

_I would ask you why you wanted me to save her, but I'm sure your just gonna leave me in the dark as always._

"_Trust me when I say this Lloyd, I didn't want to save her either."_

_Then why?_

"_Let me ask you Lloyd, what do you think I am?"_

Lloyd never really thought about it, he had no idea what Shadow could possibly be.

_A pokemon?_

"_In the past, I was, but that's no longer the case."_

Lloyd didn't understand.

_Then, what specifically? What do you mean you used to be a pokemon?_

"_I'll tell you, in exchange for your help, but you must wait until tonight, when your alone."_

_Aren't we alone now?_

"_Not for long."_

_Huh?_

Shadow didn't respond, but soon Lloyd understood his meaning. He could now hear the sound of footsteps approaching him. Not long after, the source of the footsteps arrived, and from around the corner arrived two pokemon, a Chikorita and a Vulpix.

"Rita!" Lloyd yelled excitedly.

"Lloyd! Your ok!" Rita and the Vulpix that accompanied her ran to where Lloyd was waiting. "Where's everyone else?"

"Right here." Lloyd pointed behind him. "Isaac is unconscious, but he should be ok. I'll need you and your friends help to carry everyone out."

"Why?" Asked Rita. "What's wrong with Regal?"

Instead of answering her, Lloyd just walked over to the pokemon and picked up Regal, showing off his new form to Rita.

"Oh great, now who's gonna carry my stuff?" She said, not sounding at all please at Regal evolution.

"I'm sure you'll manage, you never needed Regal before."

Rita just grumbled under her breath, she walked over and let Lloyd place regal on top of her back. She prevented Regal from slipping off with the leaf on her head.

Lloyd then picked up Isaac. "Hey... Um... Whats your name?"

"Sakura." Answered the Vulpix.

"Hi there Sakura, would you mind carrying Isaac here for me?"

She hesitated for a moment. "Umm, no, its no problem." She walked over and allowed Lloyd to place Isaacs limp body on her back.

After passing off Isaac, Lloyd picked up the Celebi. Rita and Sakura looked at it curiously.

"Who is that? I've never seen it before." Said Rita.

"Neither have I."

"You guys never seen a Celebi before? Not even in pictures?" Asked Lloyd.

Both Sakura and Rita shook their heads.

"Seriously? Wow."

"Why?" Asked Rita. "Should I know what a 'Celebi' is?"

Lloyd frowned, he figured it was probably best not to tell everyone he was carrying around a legendary pokemon, the recent cave in probably would be enough to make him the center of attention.

"Um, nah, don't worry about it. Lets just get out of here and get these three to safety."

"K, just don't go too fast, I'm having a hard enough time keeping Regal from slipping off."

---

It wasn't long before they managed to navigate themselves out of the cave. Outside they were greeted by several pokemon, one of which was the Nidoking, Edward.

"What on earth happened in there?!"

"The roof caved in after... a pokemon attacked my friends." Lloyd hadn't thought of what exactly he was gonna say when he got out, so all he could do is just wing it. "I found them and pulled them out, this was soon before Rita and Sakura found us."

_Yeah, that'll work._

"That's wonderful! Now, we need to put your friends somewhere they can rest. Er, Sakura?"

"Yes Master Edward?"

"The other pokemon in your room graduated recently correct? Why not bring everyone to your room so the injured ones can rest and you can talk with your friend there."

"Umm, but..." Sakura sighed. "Yes Master Edward..."

"Your all free to stay as long as you need, come see me before you leave to pick up your reward."

Lloyd and Rita each said thank you to Edward, then proceeded to follow Sakura, who had already began to lead to way, to her room.

For the first time since Echo Cavern, Celebi moved slightly, squirming in Lloyds arms, but soon after she was still again. Lloyd held her tightly, trying to keep her as comfertable as he could while he followed behind Sakura.


	31. Memories

Chapter 31: Memories

It wasn't long after leaving the cavern outside the academy did night fall. Everyone had no trouble sleeping in the beds in Sakuras room, everyone except Lloyd.

Lloyd wanted to sleep, his body protested his desire to stay awake but he still managed to keep from drifting off.

_Come on, where are you Shadow?_

Lloyd could do nothing but lay there and stare at the ceiling, just waiting and staring at the ceiling. Eventually, his exhaustion consumed him, and he can not help but fall asleep.

---

Images flooded Lloyd mind, unlike most of his dreams everything was so clear, but none of the images stayed in his head for very long. He felt like he was watching a video in fast forward.

He saw large tubes or strange, green fluid.

Then he saw a closer image of the tubes, inside several were the silhouettes of pokemon.

Several images of a snow covered valley came next, in the valley was a near buried building.

Next he saw the inside, many machines and tools that a scientist would use. He saw the only living thing in the whole room was a pokemon, a Pikachu like him.

The last image he saw was of a new pokemon, one he had never seen before. Before he could even absorb the image of the pokemon, everything went black.

"Rather rude of you to go to sleep Lloyd." It was Shadow.

Suddenly, Lloyd found himself in this dream like state, but he had full control of his body.

"Whoa, what just happened?" Lloyd asked.

"You were dreaming, but I interrupted it so we could talk, like I promised."

"We're talking... In my dream?"

"Its complicated really, I forced you inside your own head so that we could talk, right now your body is dead to the world and will be until either you or me goes back and takes over."

Lloyd looked around, trying to find where Shadow was speaking from. "Shouldn't I be able to see you?"

"Did you not think to look behind you Lloyd? I'm right here."

Lloyd turned around, what he saw he never expected. When he pictured what Shadow really looked like, he imagined him looking much like he did when he took over Lloyd body, covered in darkness and with red, glowing eyes. Instead what he saw was a pokemon he had recently come in familiarity with, a Celebi.

"You... You're a Celebi too?!"

"I was, only in your mind do I look like my old self. I'm glad you went to sleep, this is one of the reasons I'm talking to you like this."

"To show me your true form, and...?"

"Just you watch Lloyd, what you're about to experience is a memory of mine, but it involves us both."

"Your memory? But how does that work?"

Shadow didn't bother responding. Both he and Lloyd disappeared from the strange, blank realm that was Lloyds mind. Lloyd felt a funny sensation, and suddenly the blank space was replaced with a familiar setting.

---

Lloyd found himself somewhere in the wasteland, late at night, flying in the air, high above an endless plain of sand.

_Whoa, what's going on?_

But there was no response, and he had no control over where he was going.

He flew over a small oasis, the clear water reflected back a clear night sky, and the image of a Celebi. Lloyd understood now, he was experiencing what Shadow had when this memory took place.

Suddenly, both Lloyd and the past Shadow heard a sound coming up from behind. Shadows head turned and he and Lloyd saw a figure approaching them, it was running on foot and it was running fast.

"Oh no!" Yelled Shadow, a great deal of panic in his voice. He started to fly faster, the ground below becoming nothing but a blur, but Lloyd saw when Shadow looked back again that whoever was chasing him would catch up regardless.

From his brief look, Lloyd saw the pokemon in question that was chasing Shadow. He was pretty sure it was a Sneasel, a pokemon he had a run in once before when one attack him and Rita.

Suddenly, a large pillar of fire flew upwards and hit Shadow, causing him to crash into the sand below. Shadow looked up and he and Lloyd saw the source of the flame, a Charmander.

_Wait a sec... Is that Zar?_

Before Lloyd could get a better look, Shadow managed to recover and take off once again, but only to be knocked out of the air by another pokemon soon after. The pokemon that was chasing them managed to catch up, and up close Lloyd could tell it wasn't a Sneasel, but actual its evolved form, a Weavile.

"You're not going anywhere, the boss has been looking for you for a long time!" The voice belonging to the Weavile was female. "Zar, get over here and be useful, carry this little vermin to the base!"

"Right away!" Zar walked over and roughly picked Shadow up and slung him over his shoulder. "Ugh, this thing won't stop squirming!"

"Don't worry, I got it." The last thing Lloyd saw was the Weavile walking over and striking Shadow over the head. The blow must have knocked him out, the vision Lloyd was having went completely black and he could hear or see nothing.

---

"First you, and now me, why do they want us and who are they?" Asked Lloyd

"I know why they wanted me, they needed an extremely rare pokemon to use in their experiments. You... I have no idea, Pikachu were never rare or unusual in any way."Shadow shook his head. "Perhaps its best you wait until you see my second memory before you start asking any questions."

Lloyd didn't say anything. Soon he and Shadow disappeared again, and he felt yet another strange sensation as everything around them changed.

---

"So... w Goes... ex.. ment?"

This time, Lloyd saw through Shadows eyes that he was in a lab of some kind, a bright light from above nearly blinded them both.

"A few more minutes sir, then I'll dispose of the body and bring in the other subject."

"Good, I've waited quite a long time for this, do not disappoint me."

Shadows eyes adjusted to the light just as whoever had just spoken had left the room, Shadow began to panic when he realized he was strapped down and wasn't able to move. He pulled desperately to escape, but he was stuck.

"Do not try to escape little one, it is pointless to even try."

Shadow couldn't see the pokemon who was supposed to these experiments, Shadow was on some kind of table and it seemed the pokemon was shorter then the table was.

Lloyd heard the sound of buttons being pressed, each making a distinct beep sound, then a loud 'clunk' that sounded like a level being pulled. Suddenly, a machine above the operating table came to life, a large black box that looked like a mechanical coffin of some kind. It kept lowering until Shadow was totally boxed in, surrounded by the machine.

The experience reminded Lloyd of the machine they used in the spa in Havok City, the one they used to relax his body. But this machine was definitely not designed for anything good, Lloyd couldn't place his finger on it, but he knew something bad was about to happen.

Shadow was panicking much more now, he thrashed back and forth, tugging at the straps that held him down.

The machine started to work, out of several small holes came what looked like black lightning, all of it went straight into Shadows body. Shadow thrashed even harder and screamed in agony, Lloyd had no idea what the sensation could have felt like, but it was obvious it was extremely painful.

The black lightning coursed through Shadow for several minutes, when Shadow stopped struggling and was no longer screaming in pain, the machine stopped.

Lloyd was confused, he figured the vision would have ended like it did before. There was no way Shadow could have remained conscious after all that happened.

Suddenly, Lloyd began to float upwards, and after a few seconds he was sucked out of the machine by a nearby tube. He felt like he suddenly had entered the body of a speck of dust.

At the end of the tube, Lloyd found himself inside some kind of glass box.

"Brilliant! It works!"

Beside the box was the machine Shadow was forced into, it began to raise back up to where I was before, and on the table was the body of Shadow, limp and unmoving.

_How can you be looking at your body like this in your own memory Shadow?_

"_Because, I was forced out of my body, what you're seeing right now is the viewpoint of my spirit."_

_They separated your spirit from your body? How?_

"_I really don't know, now quiet, this next part might be the most interesting for you."_

"Ok then, part one of the experiment is 100% successful, come fetch the body and bring in subject two." Lloyd assumed the voice of the pokemon doing all this was speaking into some kind of intercom.

Several different pokemon all came in, half of them went to Shadows body and hauled him back out. The others carried with them another, very alive and very awake pokemon. One that Lloyd was very familiar with.

"Let go of me! Put me down this instant!" After hearing the pokemon voice he knew who he was now looking at.

The pokemon, and the second subject of this insane experiment, was Lloyd.

"I swear, if you don't release me right now I'll... I'll..."

"Put the subject underneath the machine and secure him, and be quick about it!"

Despite Lloyds struggle, he wasn't able to escape being placed on the table below the machine. Without hesitation the machine began to lower once again, and soon Lloyds past self was hidden within the machine.

Suddenly, the small tube that had sucked Shadows spirit from his body activated once again, and sucked Shadow the other way. As soon as the spirit reached the inside of the machine, it was immediately forced into Lloyds body.

For a few seconds nothing happened, then without a word of warning, the vision faded like the first, and everything disappeared into nothingness.

---

Lloyd once found himself in the blank realm, with only himself and Shadow around.

"I'm going to skip ahead a bit, nothing important happens for quite awhile and it is nearly morning."

Before Lloyd could say anything, he and Shadow disappeared.

---

Lloyd opened his eyes, but could see nothing except a thick green liquid.

_I know where I am, I'm in the lab, I saw pokemon inside these tubes of green stuff in the dream I was having, before you came._

"_Yes, I saw your dream, I'm guessing you were seeing images of things from your memory."_

_Does this mean I'm beginning to remember everything now?_

"_I don't know."_

Lloyd suddenly heard a voice talking to him.

"Why, hello there, glad to see you awake!"

Lloyd recognized that as the voice from the second vision, belonging to the pokemon that left before the experiment. Lloyd wasn't sure how exactly he could hear him, he guess they had equipped him with some kind of ear piece so those outside the tube could communicate with him.

"I'm sure you'll be happy to know the experiment was a complete success! You now have a power inside you greater then you could ever imagine. I think it is only fair you repay me, you can do so with your total obedience."

The green liquid began to drain from the tube, Lloyd could now see the lab, and the pokemon in front of him who was speaking.

"Do you remember me? Its been a long time, but surely you haven't forgotten this face." Lloyd finally got clear sight of the pokemon. It was one he was not familiar with, light purple body, almost feline like body structure, standing tall on two legs. "I'm so glad you could you join us for our little experimenting session. You should be happy, one of your failed projects is finished, and a complete success!"

Lloyd could see his past self in the reflection of the glass tube he was held in, he could see his past selves face, full of hatred and rage, whoever this pokemon was that was holding him captive, Lloyd knew him very well.

---

"Well, I best leave you alone, you probably will want some time to yourself before we do the next experiment." The pokemon laughed. "Soon you will loyal to me, and only me. I'll leave you to enjoy your last moments of free thinking." Without another word, the pokemon left, leaving Lloyd alone.

Lloyd (the one in the memory) tried to get free from his prison, but his arms were shackled to the back of the tube, even despite the slick liquid that still soaked Lloyd, he couldn't slip free. He then tried to use what little strength he could muster to try to pull free, but that was even more futile then trying to slip free.

"I need outta here, come on, think!" He said to himself. "Errrrrrr, I just know..." Lloyd shook his head. "I'd give anything right now to be back at my lab... Or at least, out of here."

"_Hey!"_

"What?! Who said that?" Lloyd looked around frantically but couldn't see anyone in the room, he was still alone. "Wait... Its you isn't it? The Celebi?"

"_Yes, its me, how did I get here? What's going on?"_

"It seems we were the victims of one of my old inventions, the Soul Transfer Mechanism, or STM. Basically it ripped your soul right from your body, then forced it into the body of another, in this case, me."

"_You created this thing? Do you know how to get me out? Back in my body?"_

"Oh, yes, its quite simple, but unfortunately the device is no longer in my control. This lab used to be mine before it was taken over by that pokemon, Mewtwo."

"_The big purple guy?"_

"Yes, it's a long story really, all you need to know is Mewtwo hates my guts and is doing everything he can to ruin my life, and it seems he's doing quite a good job too."

"_How can I help?"_

"Simple, if I remember correctly, you just need to concentrate hard enough and you can take control of the host body. You, being a legendary pokemon, should have the strength needed to get us out of this tube. From there I'll think of something."

"_So I just...?"_

"Think of what you want, think very hard about taking control of my body, and eventually you will get it!"

"_Ok..."_

Lloyd concentrated as well, trying to relax so as to make it easier for him to give up control. After a few minutes, he felt the strange but familiar sensation of his soul being switched, and control of his body being given to the Celebi.

"_Can you move?"_ Lloyd asked.

Lloyd was definitely no longer in control, but it was not unusual for a glitch to occur, where neither of the souls sharing a body took control, which was very complicated to fix. Lloyd of course, didn't mention anything about it, in case he caused the Celebi to panic.

"Yeah, I can move fine."

"_Good, now try to pull yourself free."_

Celebi tried to pull the shackles hard enough the pull them from the wall, at first Lloyd thought he wouldn't be able to do it, but after about a minute of tugging, both shackles came out of the wall in the back of large tube, and they fell to the ground.

"_Excellent, now just break through the glass and we'll be out and..."_

But, for some reason, Lloyd never finished that sentence, the would around him dissapeared, and he too joined it.

---

"Huh, what!?" Lloyd jumped up out of bed and fell to the floor. _Shadow, what happened?_

"_Oh, great, you woke up, I can't show you my memories unless you're asleep."_

Lloyd looked out the window that was over his bed, the sun was beginning to come up. _So now what?_ He asked.

"_You'll just have to wait until tonight for the rest of it."_

Lloyd sighed and shook his head with frustration, he was hoping he could see the rest of the memory so he could find out what happened to him to make him lose his memorys. But he was glad to find out what he did.

_So, I'm some kind of scientist... And the pokemon that's been hunting me all this time, its called Mewtwo. But... Why?_


	32. Alone at the HQ

Last time I'll say this. Only saying it here because the other chapter, and non-chapter dedicated to this message was deleted.

Go. Read. The News. In. My. Profile.

Please and Thank You.

Chapter 32: Alone at the HQ

Still in a large amount of pain from earlier, Jennifer sat on the bed belonging to one of Ewans partners, Team Torrent, waiting for him or one of his partners to come see her.

Jennifer had a hard time hearing anything being said by either Ewan or Isaac, who were speaking just outside the door, despite her exceptional hearing ability. She was in so much pain because of her nose she couldn't concentrate.

_I hope their not leaving without me..._ Jennifer thought, saddened that she might miss out on an adventure with Isaac and his friends. Ever since she joined Team Valiant, she was happier then she had ever been before living with her family.

"I'm sorry Rita. I'm afraid Jennifers gotta stay here for the day, last thing we need is her bumping into something and breaking her nose again, its very..."

_Oh no! They are leaving without me!_ Jennifer ran over to the door

"Fine, fine, Isaac, come on!"

"But I wanted to wait for..."

"NOW!"

"Just go." Said Ewan. "I'll tell Jennifer that you left for the mission, it'll be fine!"

"Ok I guess, I'm coming Rit... Oh... I'll see you Ewan, and thanks!" He ran out to join the others.

"It's no problem Isaac, good luck to you all!"

Just as Ewan turned to open the door, Jennifer beat him to it, quickly swinging the door open and then attempted to run out and catch up to Isaac and Rita. Ewan stopped her, grabbing her around the middle as she was running, and lifting her up off the ground.

"Woah there! Jennifer, you probably already heard me tell Isaac, but you can't go anywhere today, you need to stay in the HQ!"

"But. I. Don't. Wanna!" She said, kicking the Marshtomp and struggling to get free.

"Jennifer dear, don't worry about them! Just come on in and we'll get you fixed up, has your nose stopped bleeding yet?" He asked her as he placed her back on the floor.

Jennifer nodded.

"Good then, I'll go fetch some bandages, some cream to help with the healing, then you should be good to go!"

"Ok..." Jennifer sighed as Ewan closed the door. Now she was alone, in a lot of pain, and wondering what she could possibly do until Team Valiant returned.

She looked around Team Torrents room, it was practically empty. The room was larger then Team Valiants, at least four times as big. There was a lot more beds as well, sixteen total, and were much bigger and had many more pillows and blankets for each individual bed.

On the opposite side of the room was a dresser, very similar to the one Team Valiant had, only longer to fit the size of the room. On each door was a metal label telling what or whose stuff was inside. On top of the dresser was a very big television, one of the biggest Jennifer had ever seen.

Finally, there was a wall at the very far side of the room, with seventeen framed photos of pokemon, each with the name of the pokemon underneath. Curious, Jennifer went over to the wall to get a better look.

The one farthest to the left was a Marshtomp, with a gold colored tag that said "Ewan".

_These must be the current members of Team Torrent._ Thought Jennifer.

She looked at each picture, and read the name below it. She kept doing this until she reached the last photo, which was unique as it had not one, but three pokemon. In it was Mudkip, Squirtle and Bulbasaur, all smiling happily at the camera. Below it, the tag read, _**"Founding members of Team Torrent. Ewan, David, and Ivan the forty-seventh."**_

"Wow, how long ago was this taken?" Jennifer asked herself.

"I forget actually..." Responded Ewan, making Jennifer jump. "Oh, sorry, thought you heard me come in. Yeah, this picture was taken quite a long time ago, at least forty years."

"Forty years? I didn't even know you were that old Ewan."

Ewan laughed. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"Who are the other two guys?"

"David and Ivan? Dave you know, hates his real name so he just has everyone call him the Captain."

"Oh." The thought of what the Captains real name was had never occurred to her.

"Ivan, the men in his family has shared that name for generations. He was the oldest of the three of us, and retired not too long ago. You might know his son though, part of some other team with an Eevee and Charmander... Never really thought to ask why they all share the same name." Ewan then suddenly swatted his forehead. "Oh, I'm sorry Jennifer, I totally forgot about your nose. Here, take this." He handed her a small, round, plastic container.

"What is it?" She asked.

"That's a cream made of berries our team uses for healing stuff, and it works wonders. I'd love to do more, but I forgot, the rest of my team is out on a mission, everyone but me."

Jennifer had nearly forgotten about her nose. It didn't hurt much anymore, but she took the cream anyways, just in case.

"Oh, and one other thing..." Added Ewan. "Your sister Eva told me someone was looking for your team, a Squirtle."

"Ok, I'll go and tell him they're all away. Thanks for the berry cream Ewan!" She said as she opened the door. Ewan said bye just as she left, and Jennifer went straight upstairs to find out about the Squirtle looking for Team Valiant.

---

"What do you want fuzzball?"

Jennifer ignored her siblings attempt to push her buttons. It was hard, because she wanted nothing more then to bounce on Evas head a couple of times.

"What's this about a Squirtle asking for Team Valiant?"

"Oh, him. Yeah, he was here about thirty minutes ago, asking for either Lloyd or that other chick."

"Rita?"

"Yeah, her. Why? Where is Team Valiant? On a mission without you?"

"Yes, they left because I broke my nose earlier, so I'm here by myself."

"Aww, poor little baby fuzzball. Well, you better go tell him they're not here then, mmm'kay?"

Jennifer began to walk away, clenching her paws into fists, doing her best to not turn around and hurt her sister.

She failed, as soon as Eva turned her back, Jennifer ran over, stomped on her sisters toes and ran off before she could do anything.

---

It was the middle of the day, the sun was bright and the air was incredibly hot. There was nothing Jennifer hated more then a hot, sunny day, she preferred rain, dark clouds, cool air...

There was very few pokemon wandering the streets, Jennifer couldn't decide if it was because of the intense heat, or the incident she had only heard about that apparently killed several pokemon only a few days ago.

_Where could this Squirtle guy be?_ She asked herself. She looked all around but didn't see any Squirtles. She then saw that a small side street near the Brotherhood HQ was well shaded, and figured the Squirtle went there to avoid the heat while waiting for Lloyd or Rita.

She walked down the dark street, the cool air feeling good, but she still didn't feel right somehow. Something didn't feel right.

"Hello?!" She called out. "Any Squirtles here looking for Team Valiant?" Nothing, the street was empty and silent.

"Hellooooo!" She called out again. Still nothing responded.

_Maybe he's not here, I better get out of here and look elsewhere._

She took one step, but stopped when she suddenly got a chill. Not a chill caused by the shade from the buildings, and strange, unnatural cold that washed over her. She looked around, thinking suddenly that she was being watched, but the street was empty except for her.

Her ears twitched, she could hear something. It was a faint whisper, nearby and quiet, but she had no problems homing in on the source and listening in.

"... And then the boss will reward us!"

"But, but... We're right outside the Brotherhood Headquarters, if we get caught..."

"Maverick is doing the exact same thing, and he got away with it earlier today no problem!"

"Ok Gastly, whatever you say, but if something does wrong I'm bolting!"

Jennifer inched closer towards the source of the voices, which seemed to come from around a corner going into an even darker ally way. "Hey!" She yelled, trying to not sound scared or nervous. "Who's there?!"

"Oh no, she's coming right towards us!"

The other voice sighed. "That's a good thing moron. Lets just do this..."

Jennifer knew now that she didn't want to stick around. She turned around and started to run back to the sunny, main street of Havok City. But she stopped half way when a pokemon appeared out of nowhere, the Gastly that was hiding around the corner. She stopped so suddenly that she fell backwards, landing hard on her back on the rocky street.

"Well, that was easier then we could have hoped. Grab her Raticate and lets scram!"

Jennifer tried to stand and run, but her arms were pinned to the ground the Raticate the Gastly mentioned. Its large rat feet nearly crushed her wrists, so much weight pushing down made it impossible for Jennifer to slip free or overpower the Raticate and get free, she was trapped.

"No what?" Asked the Raticate.

"Well we gotta... Um." Everyone was silent. "I guess we just haul her out of the city the way we got in."

"What if she screams for help?"

"We'll gag her with something. Make sure she can't make any noise."

"With what?"

More silence. Apparently, Jennifers potential kidnappers were very bad at their jobs. "We really should have prepared better." Gastly finally said.

Jennifer couldn't believe what happened next, out of nowhere, several large bubbles came and knocked into Raticate, sending him flying and freeing her arms.

"What the...!?" Gastly tried to say, but soon he was hit by the Bubble attack as well. At first she thought it was Isaac, come to save her, but she remembered that Isaac was far away. Not only that, but the bubbles looked different, much faster and there was more of them. _A bubblebeam? _She thought.

With both Gastly and Raticate down, she was free to get up. She saw her rescuer standing at the far end of the dark street where she had first entered, it was a Squirtle, most likely the very one she was looking for.

Without a word, both the Raticate and the Gastly got up and ran/floated away to safety. The Squirtle didn't give chase, he instead walked up the Jennifer.

"You shouldn't be wandering the streets. Even with the presence of the Brotherhood, this city has its dangers."

Jennifer didn't know what to say, she just stood there and brushed the dirt out of her fur.

"I heard you calling me, mentioned Team Valiant. Where are they?"

Jennifer got a strange feeling whenever the Squirtle spoke. A weird nostalgic feeling, as if this Squirtle was a good friend that she had not seen in a long time. And his shell, his green shell, the same unusual color as the captains shell. Were they perhaps, related?

"Do I know you, Mr. Squirtle?"

"Probably... what is your name, Buneary?"

"Jennifer."

The Squirtle stood there, had the look of someone in deep thought. "Yes... Yes! I remember you quite well, I saw you when you were only little!" He sighed. "Listen, Jennifer, I really need to know where Team Valiant is."

"Why?"

"I need to warn them, most of all Lloyd, of someone in the Brotherhood. A spy, and an impersonator."

"A spy? Who would want to spy on us?"

Squirtle pulled out a small photograph out of his shell and handed it to Jennifer. On it was a pokemon she had never seen before, light purple skin, strange shaped body... She couldn't think of a single pokemon that looked similar.

"That..." Said Squirtle. "Is Mewtwo. Nobody seems to know what his goal is, but he seems to be the source of many problems we are currently having in the wasteland. Pokemon everywhere are disappearing, being murdered by his henchmen, and most odd, creating a new variation of the Infinity Stone, which evolves pokemon for a short period of time, then drains them of all their power." Jennifer handed back the picture, Squirtle quickly slipped it back into his shell. "The reason I need to warn Lloyd is because he is one of the pokemon Mewtwo wishes to capture. Why? I don't know. All I know is that Lloyd needs to know about..."

"I think he knows already." Interrupted Jennifer.

"He knows about Mewtwo?"

"Well, I'm not sure about that, but he knows he's being hunted. In fact he's had five or six different pokemon come after him, all either get beaten by him and Team Valiant, or run off. Isaac told me all about it, he said that one of them even went as far as killing all of Isaacs village to intimidate Lloyd."

"Yes... I heard about that. Its good to know that Lloyd and his friends can take care of themselves. Now, Jennifer, I need to go and tell him what I know right now. Please, where is he."

"If I remember correctly it was some place called... The Academy?"

"Oh... That's not good."

"Why? What's wrong with him being at the Academy?"

Squirtle pulled out another thing from his shell, this time a slip of paper that looked like a long list.

"This is a list I stole from Mewtwos fortress, far to the north east of Havok City. It's a recent list of all the pokemon who are kidnappers and hunters working for Mewtwo." He showed her the list and pointed to a certain name.

_**Pokemon - Esme, Species - Ninetails, Status**_ _**- Awaiting orders at location "Pokemon Battle Academy." Current Target - Pikachu going by the name "Lloyd" **_

Scribbled beside the information was something in pencil.

_**Like the others, has failed to capture Lloyd. This time thanks to that Celebi we captured helping him.**_

"Lloyd never said anything about fighting a Ninetails..."

Squirtle slipped the list back into his shell. "I have a feeling why, but I think its best he tell you, when he's ready. Right now I gotta get to the Academy and warn Team Valiant, tomorrow night I'll get them to help me rid the Brother Headquarters of this spy."

"Ok, good luck I guess."

"Oh, before I go..." He pulled out yet another slip of paper, and handed it to Jennifer.

She looked at it, it was blank.

"Hey, there's nothing written on it!"

"That's because it's a tissue, your nose is bleeding."

Jennifer reached up and touched her upper lip, while not as badly as when she first hurt it, it was dripping with blood again. Probably happened when she fell over a few moments ago.

"I'll see you later." Said the Squirtle. And then he walked out into the bright sun lit street, and was gone.

"Oh, crud, I forgot to ask his name! I just know I know him from somewhere..."

Jennifer looked around, and noticed she was once again alone in the dark side street. Not wanting to get in anymore trouble, she sprinted right out until she reached the main road.

---

Back in the safety of the Brotherhood HQ, and her room, Jennifer was pondering on what exactly to do next.

_Nothing to do now..._ She thought. _Can't do anything to active, or I might hurt myself again_.

She didn't want to go get anything to eat, she wasn't hungry.

_Pool? Last thing I want is to get my fur wet._

_Casino? No._

_Library? Boring. And I've probably read everything they've got._

Now that her exciting 'adventure' looking for that Squirtle was over, she was afraid she would spend the rest of her time bored out of her mind, waiting for Isaac and the others.

She sat in her bed for nearly an hour. Every idea that came to her was immediately shot down, she knew what she wanted to do, but it was the least possible thing of them all.

_I wanna be with Isaac right now..._ _More then anything in the world I wanna be with Isaac. I've never had these feelings before, my heart feels so strange, likes it going to just pop out of my chest!_

Once she started thinking about Isaac, she couldn't stop thinking.

_What about him? I wonder what he's planning as far as this relationship is, is he just dating me? Perhaps more? Maybe even have a family together? That would be wonderful! Maybe I should ask him... Ask if he plans to stay with me for a while, or forever. When he gets back, I'll ask him everything. I need to know, I need to. More then anything in the world I want to know how Isaac feels. Forget the pool and the library and all that stuff, I'm going to sit and wait for Isaac._

She leapt out of bed.

_But not here, somewhere else... Outside the city. I want me to be the first thing he sees when he finally comes home, and if things go as I hope they do, he'll be so happy to see me again._

But then she saw the clock, it was already late.

_He'll probably be staying at that academy place tonight, I'll go out first thing after breakfast tomorrow, and even if it takes him all day to get here, I'll be waiting._

---

The next morning, Jennifer felt great, her nose was totally pain free, and she felt totally energized.

She got out of bed, did a few stretches, and headed out of Team Valiants room and straight to the cafeteria. She ate as much as she could, and even bought a few snacks for later, she was completely stuffed and felt better then she had in her entire life.

When she went outside, the weather was great, the air was cool, the sky was clear except for a few small clouds, and the sun shined as it always did.

She walked slowly walked down the main street that went straight from the HQ to the large archway that was the most used entrance to Havok City. As she walked, many townspeople passed by, shop keepers were just starting to set up their stands, and the occasionally flying pokemon soared overhead towards its destination. A Charmander ran full speed at her...

_Wait, what?_

Before Jennifer could react, the Charmander crashed right into her, causing them both to fall over in the street, causing many people to stare at them for a moment.

"I'm sorry... I'm so... WAIT!" The Charmander practically screamed the last part. "Are you that Buneary from Team Valiant?!"

Jennifer nodded.

"Oh you got to help! Where is Isaac?!"

"I don't know."

"NO! YOU'VE GOT TO KNOW!"

"Hey! Hey! Calm down!"

The Charmander sounded calmer, but he certainly wasn't anywhere near what anyone would consider 'calm'.

"I got a letter, from some guy... Maverick! He said he took my team members away and said that if Isaac doesn't come... Oh man!" He said all this while chewing on one of his claws nervously."

"Listen, he should be back today, just go... do something until he gets back. I can't help you in any way."

"Uuuuuuugh! Fine, oh man I hope they are ok..." He turned to leave but then turned right back around. "By the way... I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Well... I knocked you over and... Your nose is bleeding."

She reached up once again, and once again, her nose was bleeding.

_Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh! Not again, you stupid little...!_

"It's... It's fine... Just go."

But he was already gone, as if fleeing from Jennifer like she was going to attack him. She sighed to herself, and began to walk again to her destination, trying to think positive despite the incident.

When she got to the archway, she looked up at it. She figured that would be the perfect place to wait, she'd be able to see Isaac from a mile away and nobody would bother her. She bounced up top easily, and sat down, her feat dangling over the edge.

_I'm here Isaac. Come home soon, come back to me._


	33. The Graduation Party

Keep it up with the character submissions, I'll try to implement as many as I can when I do the next story.

Also, that chapter I took down, the **old** chapter 32, pretend it never existed.

Chapter 33: The Graduation Party

Lloyd was still tired from last night. Everything that went on when he slept, the visions that Shadow shared with Lloyd, must have prevented him from getting a good nights sleep. His arms and legs were stiff and his ears drooped down each side of his head like two wilted plants.

Lloyd looked around to see if anyone else was awake, and was surprised to notice for the first time every bed was empty. He didn't notice at first because the covers were all bunched up, no effort made to make any of them. The only people left behind was him, the injured Celebi that had rescued everyone from the cave-in, and the evolved Regal, an immobile Metapod.

He figured everyone was out to breakfast or something, but when he noticed the time on a clock that was beside Sakuras own bed, he knew this wasn't the case.

It was two in the afternoon, well past breakfast and probably even past lunch time. Not knowing what to think, Lloyd went straight outside to look for everyone.

When he got outside, the entire Academy square, which the same time yesterday was very crowded, was nearly empty. The only pokemon Lloyd saw was the Nidoking who ran the school, Edward, who was handing around just outside the student residence building.

"Oh, there you are Lloyd. I was beginning to wonder if you would ever wake up."

Still sounding very tired, Lloyd asked where his friends were.

"Everyone is outside the gates, today is the graduation date for many of our students. Everyone, including some of your friends, helped set up everything while you were asleep."

"Set stuff up? Like what?

"Mainly the stage where the graduation ceremony takes place. It takes a lot of work to set up but your friends insisted on helping."

Lloyd was a bit embarrassed that he had slept in while all his friends were helping out the Academy. He wished someone would have tried to wake him up earlier instead of letting him sleep the whole day away.

"I'll see if there's anything I can do." Lloyd said as he began to make his way across the academy square.

"Alright, I'll be out there in a second."

The closer Lloyd got to the main gate the more he could hear the sounds of music and loud voices. By the time he got to the gate his ears were ringing because of all the noise. The gate was already open, but only partially, there was barely enough room for him to fit through.

Before he could get a good look at the source of all the noise, Rita leapt at him through the crack in the gate, scaring the life out of Lloyd. Rita laughed, making it clear that startling Lloyd was her intent.

"Awake yet?" She asked, still giggling to herself.

"Yeah... Why didn't you guys wake me up?"

Rita shrugged. "I did try, I shook you and you didn't even stir. I figured you were tired so I convinced everyone to let you rest."

Lloyd was grateful, because he had been allowed to sleep in he was able to view the visions that Shadow wanted to show him. He smiled at Rita, "Thanks, I guess I must have needed the energy if I slept in so late." He, of course, wasn't going to admit the real reason the long rest benefitted him.

"Come on Lloyd, you need to see this party the academy is throwing, Edward said we could stay and enjoy ourselves if we wanted!"

Excited, Rita ran through the gates. Lloyd ran after her and saw the party for the first time.

There was at least a few dozen pokemon attending. Everyone was dancing to a music performance, several pokemon stood on a large stage each playing strange instruments Lloyd had never seen before. Surrounding the area where the academy students danced was tables loaded with different snacks and drinks, as well as decorations in the form of statues in the middle of each table, each depicting a different pokemon, each striking a different pose.

Rita had disappeared, but Lloyd didn't care much, he had missed two meals and didn't wanna think about anything until he had some of that delicious looking food.

His eyes locked on a simple stack of various berries, he walked over and reached out to grab one, but something hit his paw, burning it, and he pulled back his arm.

"Who are you?" Someone behind Lloyd asked. He turned around and saw a Ninetails standing right behind him. "I don't recognize you, you're not a student here, are you?"

Lloyd was intimidated by the Ninetails sudden appearance, and rough treatment. He barely managed to speak, and when he did he mumbled most of what he said. "I'm not, I helped Edward find a lost student and..."

"I'll go ask Edward myself then, stay here." And then she stormed off without another word.

Lloyd breathed out a lung full of air, relieved. He didn't know what was going on at first, and was worried, but thankfully the Ninetails was just a suspicious teacher, or something like that.

"I see you met my master." Lloyd looked behind him to see who was talking, it was Sakura. "Don't worry about her, I'm sure Edward will clear everything up."

"She didn't need to be so rough, she burned my hand!" Said Lloyd, holding up the burnt paw, a small bit of the fur turned black from the flame.

"She was only doing what she thought was right, there's a lot of strange pokemon who would love to crash our party for any number of reasons."

Before Lloyd could say anything in response, The Ninetails returned.

"I talked to Edward. He says you were invited to stay, so I guess I must apologize for earlier."

"Well, thanks. I..."

But the Ninetails interrupted him. "But that doesn't mean I'm not keeping an eye on you, there is something about you I don't like, so you better behave."

Lloyd didn't know what to say, so he just kept quiet.

"Sakura."

"Yes Master Esme?"

"Make sure your little friend stay out of trouble."

"As you wish." Sakura then bowed slightly, and then her master, the Ninetails Lloyd now knew as Esme, walked away without another word.

Once Esme was gone, Sakura looked up at Lloyd and smiled at him. "Don't worry about her." She said. "Esme is just trying to keep the school safe."

Lloyd rolled his eyes. "Yeah, cause I look so dangerous."

"Well, then... Maybe she just doesn't like you."

"Well that makes me feel a whole lot better..."

"Well, don't worry, while I don't know you well enough to know if I like you yet... From what I know about you, I know that I don't not like you."

Lloyd gave her a blank stare. "... What?"

Sakura sighed. "Just go enjoy yourself, I'm gonna go find Esme."

As Sakura walked away, disappearing into a crowd of students, Lloyd quietly said to himself. "That made no sense at all!"

---

Rita sat alone, watching the many pokemon celebrating while she ate some kind of pastry that she took from one of the tables of food. She sat on the ground, quietly relaxing when she suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked behind her, and standing there was Isaac.

"What's up?" She asked, a mouth full of food.

"Rita... Can I talk to you, privately?"

Rita was confused to why Isaac would need to talk to her alone like this, but she nodded her head and got up to follow him. As soon as she stood up, Isaac lead her away from the party, and went through the gates which lead to the academies main square, which was currently empty.

Isaac stopped just inside the gates, and looked around, likely seeing if they were both really alone.

"What is it Isaac? I'm missing the party!"

"How much do you know about Lloyd?" Isaac looked and sounded very serious.

"Huh?"

"You said you had only met Lloyd recently, what do you really know about him?"

"Not much more then what we've already told you. He had no memory when I found him, and the only thing he remembered was that he used to be a human, and not a pokemon. Other then that... I don't know anything, and neither does he."

"Are you sure you never noticed anything... odd about him?"

Rita gave him a slightly annoyed look. "No more 'odd' then how you're acting right now. Can I go back to the party now?"

Isaac closed his eyes and sighed. "Rita, I have to tell you this. When we were in Echo Cavern, I saw Lloyd..."

"Hey guys! Finally found you!" Lloyd interrupted as he walked through the gate."Why are you two over here?"

"Nothing." Said Rita. "Isaacs just being a weirdo. Come on Lloyd, lets go get something to eat, the food here is wonderful!"

Once Lloyd and Rita were gone, Isaac sighed again. _I'll just have to tell Rita when we get to the academy. I still can't believe it, how could Lloyd, my first real friend, be such a... beast?_

---

The party went on for hours. Lloyd, Rita and Isaac stayed separate during most of it, enjoying themselves in their own ways. Eventually, just as the sun was starting to go down, Lloyd went and looked for the others.

"Its getting kind of late, we should get back to the Brotherhood HQ before it gets too dark." He told both of them. And both Rita and Isaac agreed, then went to Sakuras room to pack up their stuff and head out.

When they got there, Sakura was waiting for them, and strangly, had packed all there stuff for them.

"Rita, I'm going with you." She said.

"Going where?"

"To this 'Brotherhood' of yours, you and me still have a score to settle, and I'm not leaving you alone until we do."

Rita laughed. "You're not serious, are you?"

"I'm very serious. I graduate today, and I'm free to go where ever I please. And where I want to go, is where ever you go, and I'll go where you go until I get my rematch."

Lloyd interrupted. "Wait Sakura you can't just stay in the Brotherhood HQ without actually being a member of one of the teams."

"Then let me join your team! I'm a good fighter, and I'll work hard, and I'll keep working hard until Rita has the time to fight me."

Lloyd thought about it for a moment. "Rita is the one who knows you, its up to her."

"Well... Sakura, I want a rematch as much as you do, but I don't want it to mess up with my job at with the Brotherhood."

"Then... Then... I promise that I'll wait until you have the time for it then, even if it takes weeks or even months."

"I guess..." Started Rita. "I guess I can't really say no then. You will join the team officially, do missions with us, and when there is a day where there is no missions that we need to do, you'll have your rematch. But our deal still stands, if, on the day of our rematch, I beat you fair and square, you're a permanent member of Team Valiant."

"And if I win, you have to admit that the academy was the better choice between it and just exploring the wasteland."

"It's a deal." Rita said, smiling.

"We should go now." Said Isaac. "Its gonna be dark soon and I wanna get back to the headquarters."

"Alright." Said Lloyd. "Rita, you carry Regal." He said. He pulled the celebi out of bed and positioned her so that she had her arms around Lloyds neck and was hanging off his back. "Isaac, could you carry the supply bag?"

Isaac gave him an odd look, almost as if he was somehow intimidated by Lloyd. But soon after Isaac nodded and simply said "Yeah." Lloyd figured he was just tired or something, and decided to ignore it.

They all walked together out of Sakuras room, out of the student residence and through the front gates of the academy. The graduation party looked to be over, as most of the pokemon were now gone, and nearly all the food was eaten. The members of Team Valiant walked by and headed in the direction of Havok City.

As they walked, Rita began talking to Sakura, who walked beside her. "Sakura, remember when you called me a selfish little princess?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

"And after wards I said that I 'Needed to update you on a few things'?"

Sakura groaned with frustration. "What? Get on with it!"

Rita told her the story as they walked towards their destination. "Well, awhile ago me and Lloyd were sent on a mission to Oasis Island. And..."

Lloyd wasn't really listening. Not only because he was actually there when her story took place, but because he heard an oh so familiar voice in his head.

"_Lloyd, something is very wrong."_

_What is it?_

"_I can feel it... The Celebi on your back, she's dying."_

_What?!_

"_You need to get her to your little base camp as quickly as possible, she needs healing soon, otherwise..."_

Shadow never finished his sentence, but he didn't need to.

"Come on guys, we need to hurry." Lloyd ran ahead without letting his team mates question why. Forcing them to run as well to catch up.

---

Please Note: I didn't forget about Squirtle. Wait till the next chapter.


	34. Return the Havok City

Profile Updated, go look

Chapter 34: Return to Havok City

Lloyd continued to run across the wasteland, his friends, still not knowing what the rush was about, followed behind as best as they could.

Lloyd was the only one who knew that the Celebi that had saved most of them from the Echo Cavern cave in, and was badly hurt instead, was getting worse according to Shadow. Lloyd didn't doubt this, as the Celebi had been unconscious for quite some time and never really got treated in any way.

_This is my fault..._ Thought Lloyd. _I should have done... Something. But instead, I went to that stupid party and left her in bed without knowing if she was going to be alright._

"Lloyd! Stop!" Rita called to him from way behind. "We can't keep up much longer!"

Lloyd didn't realize how far they had run, and didn't know how tired it had made him. As soon as he stopped, he dropped the Celebi and fell forward, completely exhausted. Luckily where he stopped was on a particularly soft patch of dirt and sand, which cushioned both his and Celebis sudden collapse.

It didn't take long for the others to catch up to Lloyd.

"What is with all the running Lloyd? I thought I was gonna fall apart if I ran any more!"

Lloyd debated whether he should tell anyone about Celebis condition. Sure, they were his friends, but there was no explanation to why he would know that Celebi was getting worse, and the last thing Lloyd wanted was to tell his friends about Shadow, who told him in the first place.

He decided to just wing it, Celebi was more important then anything right now.

"Celebi... She..." Lloyd decided to catch his breath before continuing. "The Celebi, she is getting worse from that cave in she was in, I'm afraid she might be..."

"Can't we just give her some berries or something?" Sakura suggested. "Even if it didn't completely heal her, it might delay anything that might be causing her harm."

"She can't eat anything knocked out like that, Sakura!" Said Rita.

"You think fighting was the only thing they taught at the academy? Just give me the supply bag."

Isaac gave her the bag, and Sakura immediately started going through it. When she was done, she had pulled out two things, a large bundle of Oran Berries, and a small cup.

Sakura left the bag and the items she took out and began to look around the ground. "Find me a medium sized rock, one that's nice and smooth."

Nobody asked why or said anything at all, and spread out to look for the rock.

After a few moments, Rita yelled out "Found one!" and brought over a rock that perfectly fit Sakuras description.

"Thanks." Sakura said as she took the rock, and then she returned to the bag. She took all of the berries that were in the bag and put them in the cup, then using the rock, she crushed them all until there was nothing left but a sticky, purple juice.

"Lloyd, bring her over here."

Lloyd did so without delay.

"Now, hold her up a little bit, and open her mouth for me."

Again, Lloyd obeyed immediately. Sakura poured the mushed up berry juice slowly down the throat of the Celebi, who swallowed it. The Celebi made a strange moaning sound, and then was quiet again.

"Do you think she'll be ok for now Lloyd?"

_Well Shadow?_ Lloyd hoped he would respond.

"_Yes... I feel it. That gave her quite a bit more strength, but she is still fading."_

"Umm, yeah, I think she'll be fine until we get to the HQ."

Lloyd hoisted the celebi back onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck to keep her somewhat secure.

"How did you know she was getting worse, Lloyd?" Asked Rita.

"I... just could, I can't explain it." he couldn't tell if Rita was satisfied with his response, but she didn't question him further, and that's all he really wanted. "Lets keep going, we should be able to walk from here... Hey, where's Isaac?"

"Ahhhhhhh! Help!" It was Isaac, yelling at the top of his lungs.

"Where is he? I don't see him!" Yelled Rita.

"I think hes over here, this way!" Lloyd pointed in the direction he heard Isaacs cry for help, then ran to help. Sakura and Rita soon followed.

They eventually found Isaac, and immediately realized what he needed help with. He was at the bottom of a large hole in the ground, shaped like a big bowl. Even worse, there was a very dangerous pokemon at the bottom, an Ariados, and this one was gigantic. Isaac was pinned down by one of the spider pokemons legs, and the Ariados was lowering its head towards its captive Piplup, ready to devour Isaac.

"Don't worry Isaac, were coming!" Yelled Lloyd. "Rita, Sakura, lets go!"

Sakura looked ready to fight, but Rita on the other hand, was down on the ground with her head buried in the sand, her whole body shaking.

Sakura looked at Rita, and rolled her eyes, then ran towards the Ariados, exhaling a Flamethrower attack as she ran.

Lloyd forgot that Rita was afraid of spider pokemon, so he decided to leave her behind and help Sakura fight the Ariados. He leapt into the air, jumping over the giant spider, and unleashed a powerful Thunder Bolt attack straight down.

Both his and Sakuras attacks hit simultaneously, and the Ariados backed off of Isaac, allowing him to get up and run to safety.

They expected the Ariados to continue its attack, but instead, its slowly sulked back to where its home must have been, located at the far end of the hole. Obviously, this massive creature wasn't used to prey that could fight back.

Isaac was breathing heavily, Lloyd couldn't tell if it was because he was tired or still a bit frightened from the experience. "You ok, Isaac?" Lloyd asked.

Isaac slowly looked up at Lloyd. "Umm, y-yeah. Just got the wind knocked out of me is all..."

Lloyd could tell something was wrong, but he wasn't entirely sure it had anything to do with the Ariados. Isaac sounded... Distant, like he somehow conflicted.

"You sure? We might still have a few berries left if you need them."

"No... I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"Lloyd, he said he was ok, now come over here and calm down Rita, and can't deal with her when she's like this."

Lloyd looked over to where Rita was, and she was still cowering in the sand, shaking and hiding her face. He went over to where she was and patted her on the back, hoping that would calm her a little. "Rita! Come out! Its gone now!" He yelled down to her, hoping she could hear him with her head in the sand.

"Row, Rye ro ranna rum route. Rake I' row 'way..." She said, her words completely unintelligible through the sand and the sobbing.

"Rita, look at me, I can't hear you with your head in the sand like that!"

This time she just shook her head left and right, shifting the sand around her.

Sakura groaned with frustration, and sat down. "I've seen this before, she's so afraid of spider pokemon that she'll completely shut down when she sees one of pretty much any size. I'm surprised that big one didn't give her a heart attack."

Lloyd sighed, while they didn't need to run all the way to the Brotherhood HQ anymore, they still didn't have much time to waste. Desperate to move on, Lloyd grabbed Rita around the waist, and plucked her out of the ground like, ironically, a plant of some kind. He held her up and showed her the now empty space where the Ariados was a few moments ago.

"See?" Lloyd said. "Its gone, now please calm down Rita."

He put her down, and saw that she had tears running down her face, and was still trembling a little, but not nearly as much as before. Lloyd took out one of Isaacs scarves from the bag and wiped off her face, drying it and brushing of some stuck on sand.

"Ooooh, I was so scarred..."

"Yeah, I know, but you're ok now, right?"

Rita waited a moment, stopped shaking, and eventually nodded her head. "Yeah, I'll be ok... Thanks Lloyd."

"No problem." He said, giving her a comforting smile. "Is everyone ready to go?"

Everyone either nodded or said "Yes.", and they all continued to make their way towards Havok City, and the Brotherhood HQ.

---

A few hours earlier, back at the academy, Edward found himself alone in his office. The office was messy, and compared to its Nidoking owner, was extremely tiny. Edward was forced to keep his head down to avoid bumping it off the ceiling, and had to walk sideways with his massive tail tucked to avoid knocking down any of the offices many boxes of important documents and other papers.

He sat at his desk, which was also tiny comparatively to Edward, and sat on a small but sturdy wooden chair. He relaxed himself as much as he could, exhausted from organizing and keeping order at the graduation party.

"Excuse me, Edward." Edward looked up and saw Esme standing there. He wasn't at all surprised, he was used to her quietly creeping into his office to talk to him.

"What is it, Esme? It has been a very long day for me and I still have some work I need to do before I..."

"I'm leaving the school." She said simply and directly.

"Wha-What?"

"I'm leaving the school." She repeated.

"Why? What's going on that you have to leave so suddenly?"

"That's not important."

"And your students?"

"Most of them graduated today, including Sakura, the others can get training from someone else I'm sure."

Edward was in disbelief. "Ah... Is there nothing I can do to get you to stay?"

Esme shook her head. "No."

Edward sighed. "Then I guess all I can say is good luck, and we hope you one day return."

Esme nodded, and without saying another word, exited Edwards office as quietly as she had entered.

Tired and frustrated, Edward rubbed forehead and closed his eyes. "What a busy day, I'm think I'm beginning to get too old for this..."

---

Team Valiant wasn't much farther from Havok City, so close in fact that if it was daytime, the city would be easily to spot from where they were in the wasteland.

The sun was gone completely, and the moon was hidden behind a cloud. It was dark, but they managed to find a small piece of dry wood, which they had Sakura light with an Ember attack, and then gave it to Lloyd so he could lead the way.

"Boy, it sure is dark outside." Said Rita.

"Oh really?" Said Sakura, the sarcasm in her voice very clear. "I would have never have noticed."

"I'm just saying..." Rita said, yawning. "You guys aren't saying anything, and I'm bored."

"Umm... Rita." Started Sakura. "You know there is a Spinarak on your head?"

Rita squealed, her high pitched voice echoing in the night sky.

"Still bored?" Asked Sakura, smiling at Rita.

Rita stared at her, looking very mad. "I hate you, I hate you so much."

Sakura giggled.

"We better get back soon." Said Lloyd. "This stick we found is almost toast, its already starting to go out already." He held up the makeshift torch as proof. The light it emitted was half as bright as when it was first lit.

"That's ok." Said Rita, forgetting about Sakura for a moment. "I can see lights from the city from here now, were almost there!"

Rita was right, off in the distance was several lights, each varied in brightness. The city was less then a ten minute walk from where they were.

"Umm, did anyone hear that?" Asked Isaac.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Rita said, sounding confused.

"I heard something, behind us."

Everyone looked where Isaac had indicated, but the only thing anyone saw was endless darkness.

"I think you're imagining things, Isaac." Said Sakura. "I have exceptionally good hearing and I didn't hear anything."

"Oh, stop bragging!" Said Rita, groaning.

"Guys, quiet, I hear it again." Isaac continued to look into the dark night, and it wasn't long before everyone could hear the sounds. It was the soft crunching sound of footsteps on the sandy wasteland ground. Not only that, but the footsteps were getting closer.

"I don't like this guys, everyone get close to me." Lloyd told everyone. They all obeyed, crowding around him so they were in the middle of shrinking circle of light.

Crunch, crunch, crunch. The footsteps were close, whoever was coming at them wasn't making any noise aside from the footsteps, which worried everyone that this unknown pokemon might be some kind of wild pokemon, out for a midnight snack.

"Who's there?" Lloyd yelled.

A second later, the unknown person stalking them came into full view. It was just the green shelled Squirtle.

"It's just me, don't worry."

Everyone sighed a breath of relief. "Why didn't you call out sooner? I thought you were some wild pokemon coming to eat us!" Said Rita.

"Afraid that Ariados was coming back for ya?" Said Sakura, snickering to herself after saying it.

"You guys, I have something you might want to see." Squirtle pulled out a small slip of paper and handed it to Lloyd. "I was hoping to bring this to you before you went to that pokemon academy place, but you had already left."

Lloyd held the tiny torch near the paper and began to read. It was a list of names, and after the first few names he understood what it was. "Zar... Maverick... This is a list of pokemon who are after me!"

"That's right Lloyd. I was hoping to bring you this before you reached the academy, but it seems you handled yourself just fine."

"What do you mean?" Asked Lloyd. "I never got attacked by anyone, new or familiar."

"Really?" The Squirtle said, sounding confused. "That's strange, according to the list, there's a pokemon hired to capture you who works at the academy."

"What?!" Said Sakura. "Who?!"

Lloyd looked over the list again, reading all of the names. When he read far enough, he gasped. "Oh no..."

"What, who is it?!" Sakura asked, desperate to know what person could be on that list.

"It says that the pokemon who is ordered to capture me, the one at the academy... It's."

Lloyd was interrupted by a sudden bright light. A great burst of flame flew towards him, forcing him to jump to the side to avoid it.

Everyone looked towards the direction the fire attack came from, but nobody could see anything.

Even worse, the gradually dimming torch they were using to light the way had gone out, smothered by the sand when Lloyd dropped it to avoid getting burned. Everyone was now lost in the darkness with a pokemon nearby out to capture Lloyd.

Suddenly, a familiar sensation filled Lloyd. His body began to glow, and after a few moments, he felt stronger, and bigger. The stress of the sudden attack seemed to have triggered the evolution, turning him into a Raichu.

"Everyone, run to Havok City." yelled Lloyd. "I'll hold... this pokemon at bay." Lloyd knew who was attacking, but he didn't want to tell Sakura, not yet at least.

Everyone hesitated, but soon did as Lloyd asked and began to run for the city, following the dim lights in the distance.

Once everyone was gone, everything went quiet.

"I know you're there Esme, come out."

Lloyd could hear her laugh from somewhere nearby. "Now why would I do that? Why would I give you an easy to see target when I'm perfectly safe out here?"

"Why are you doing this?" Lloyd yelled out towards where Esmes voice came from. "I thought you were a teacher?"

"I am, or, I was. You know how much poke I would get for bringing you in to the boss? More then I ever earn in my entire life at that school."

"But, what about Sakura? She trusts you!"

"You think I really care?" Esme laughed again. "In this world, money and power, or in this case, befriending those with power, is more important then anything... or anyone."

_That's right Esme, keep talking, I almost got ya._ "You'll never capture me Esme, pokemon have already tried and failed, and you're gonna be the next to do so."

"I'm not like any of the others, they were fools." Lloyd now knew exactly where Esme was, he began to charge an attack. "I'll have to hold back, so I don't end up bringing a pile of ashes to the boss."

"Mewtwo will never have me, in any way, shape or form!" Lloyd unleashed the built up electricity, and fired it in the direction of Esmes voice. The bright streak lit up the night, and exploded on a nearby rock, shattering it and sending shards of stone flying in every direction.

Lloyd saw a flamethrower attack come at him from above, he had plenty of time to get out of the way and fire off another Thunderbolt into the air. The first one had missed, but this second bolt hit its target, causing Esme to yell out in pain.

Just then, it started to rain.

"Ha... Its just like that night... On the boat to Oasis Island." Esme yelled out from somewhere in the night, her voice was nearly silenced by the rain.

"What are you talking about? I..." But Lloyd didn't finish, he remembered waking up on the boat, not knowing what happened that night. Esme must have fought Shadow that time. "That wasn't me Esme!" He called out.

"What are you talking about? Of course it was you. I saw you before you changed yourself."

Lloyd was once again trying to bait her into revealing he location. With the rain, it was much harder to determine where Esme was when she spoke to him, but Lloyd also saw a potential advantage to the rain, a way to badly hurt Esme, and either make her leave or disable her somehow so the Brotherhood could lock her up for good.

"Esme, that wasn't me, didn't Mewtwo tell you about Shadow?"

"No, he didn't." Lloyd then figured out where Esme was likely located, and began to charge up electricity. "In fact... He didn't tell me anything about you. Hmm..."

Lloyd unleashed a huge Thunder Bolt, which was further amplified by the moisture in the air caused by the rain, but when it reached its target, it was harmlessly absorbed by wet sand. Esme was gone.

Lloyd waited for an attack, or at least a sound, from Esme, but there was nothing. Lloyd waited for at least a few minutes, and then was sure that Esme must have left after the last comment she made. It was obvious Esme knew nothing about Shadow, and figured she left find out herself from Mewtwo himself.

Lloyd breathed out a sigh of relief, he was glad the fight was over, even if Esme managed to escape.

He then remembered his friends, who were sent back to Havok City not knowing what was attacking them or how dangerous it was, and figured it was best to hurry back before they caused any panic. He turned from the dark night sky where Esme was hidden and ran towards the city, following the lights that were even dimmer then before thanks to the rain.

---

It didn't take long for Lloyd to find the rest of his team members, who seemed to be waiting for him at the front entrance of the city. All of them huddled underneath a market stale awning to avoid the rain that was now pouring down.

When they spotted him, Lloyd waved at them and ran over. He saw that the Squirtle was still with them too.

"What was it Lloyd, what attacked us?"

Lloyd didn't know if he should tell everyone, since Sakura was around. He didn't know how the ex-student would react to finding out her teacher was working for a criminal like Mewtwo.

"It was just a wild pokemon, but it got scarred off by the rain." He lied. He figured he could always explain later on, when Sakura wasn't around.

The wind got much stronger, and much louder too, sounding like a deep howl in the air.

"We should get back to the HQ, were gonna get soaked if we stay out here too long!" Yelled Isaac.

Everyone agreed, everyone except for Squirtle. "Wait, Lloyd, I need to talk to you."

Lloyd didn't know what this could be about, but he had no objections as long as where they talked was dry. "Ok, you guys go without me then!" They of course, didn't need to be told twice. As soon as Lloyd told them to leave they all bolted and ran towards the Brotherhood Headquarters.

"You have a place in mind, Squirtle?" Asked Lloyd, practically screaming to be heard over the wind.

The Squirtle nodded and yelled "Follow me!", then lead the way down one of Havok Citys side streets.

---

Somewhere nearby, on top of the large archway that welcomed visitors to Havok City, was a lone Buneary, fast asleep and completely soaked from the rain. She had no idea that the people she was waiting for had come and gone.


	35. The False Captain

Chapter 35: The False Captain

The rain continued to fall as the green shelled Squirtle lead Lloyd into a small, unmarked building that was somewhere at the far end of Havok City, opposite to where the Brotherhood Headquarters were located.

When Lloyd stepped inside and was finally out of the pouring rain, he shook as much water out of his fur as he could. He looked around where Squirtle had brought him and saw that it was some kind of small restaurant or bar. The place was nearly empty, with only one person behind a counter, and three customers all quietly sitting alone and keeping to themselves.

"You sit over there, at that table." Squirtle said, pointing at a table that was near the wall farthest from the door. "I'm gonna go get us some refreshments, on me, want anything?"

"Just water, I guess." Said Lloyd, who was still looking around.

Squirtle laughed. "Didn't get enough water outside, huh?"

Squirtle left to go get the drinks, and Lloyd went over to the table. He sat in one of the chairs and found it uncomfortable, and seemed small to him, but it would probably be the perfect size if he was a Pikachu again. the chair was made of carved wood, and had no padding or cushioning on the seat or back. It didn't take long for Squirtle to join him, bringing over a tall glass of water, filled half way with large ice chunks, and another drink, which was a deep, dark blue color, and also filled with the same large ice chunks.

"What's that?" Asked Lloyd, pointing at Squirtles beverage.

"Oran Berry, liquified and chilled till its nearly frozen." He picked up the glass and drank some of it. "It's refreshing, healthy, and cheap. The perfect drink!"

Lloyd drank some his water. It wasn't until the icy drink reached his lips did he realize how thirsty he was, and he kept drinking until the glass was almost completely empty. He put the glass down and decided to wait for some of the ice to melt before drinking anymore. "So, what was it you wanted to talk about?" He asked.

"Lloyd, you remember me saying that I lost my memory awhile ago?"

Lloyd nodded. "And that you were looking for something. But what does that have to do with me?"

"Well, I found that thing I was looking for, and I remember everything."

"Really?" Lloyd said, with a genuine interest.

"Yep, and I think this thing can help you too."

Lloyd couldn't believe his ears. "Seriously? You know how to get my memories back?!"

"Exactly. You see, the thing I was looking for was a machine, one made long ago by those humans that died off a few thousand years ago. It was made to restore memories taken away unnaturally, which is pretty much any memory you don't just plain forget." The Squirtle took another sip of his Oran Berry drink. "It took me awhile, but eventually, I found it."

"Where?!"

The Squirtle sighed. "Here's the thing Lloyd, I need your help before I can tell you. It would be only fair, and what I need would benefit both of us anyways."

Lloyd was angry that Squirtle was keeping something so important from Lloyd, but he figured he didn't have any choice. "What is it you want me to do?"

The Squirtle leaned forward. "You've been in the captains office, correct?"

Lloyd remember the unusually large office, where he was first welcomed into the Brotherhood, as well told the story of how the wasteland came to be. "Yeah, I've been there."

"What I need you to do, is to go into that office, go through the desk, and bring me back something. All without being seen by the Captain himself."

"What?! You're crazy!" Lloyd couldn't believe it, he was being asked to sneak into his bosses desk and steal from him? How could this possibly benefit me? _I'll just get kicked out of the Brotherhood!_ Thought Lloyd.

"Lloyd, how long have you known the Captain? And how well?"

Lloyd stopped to think for a moment. "Not much." He responded.

"Well, I can tell you with complete certainty, that he isn't the Captain at all."

That was something Lloyd didn't expect to hear. At first, Lloyd planned to argue, saying that he didn't believe a word of it. But instead, Lloyd asked, "Prove it."

"You still have the list I gave you? The one with the pokemon who are working for that 'Mewtwo' guy on it?"

"Uh... Oh no, I...."

The Squirtle broke out in laughter again. And pulled out the note out of his shell. "Just kidding, I saw that you dropped it, so before going with your friends I picked it up and kept it safe. I want you to look at it, and read the... lets see... seventh one on the list."

Squirtle then handed Lloyd the list. He counted the names until he got to the seventh, and began reading.

_**Pokemon - Lancet - Species Unknown (Assumed to be a Ditto) - Carrying out orders to impersonate the Brotherhood leader known as "The Captain"**_

Lloyd had to read it twice to fully understand what it said. "I can't believe it... The Captain was so nice to us."

"That's why Mewtwo hired him, not only is this guy able to take on any form, but he is also supposedly very persuasive. He's been fooling the entire Brotherhood for nearly a year now, and has been passing information and even releasing prisoners who work for Mewtwo."

Lloyd remembered how Zar had supposedly 'escaped' captivity, despite his weakened state caused by the de-evolution.

"Before I agree to help you, I need to know what you have planned, what are you gonna do to get rid of this guy?"

"Well, that thing in his desk, the thing I wanted you to get for me, its what is allowing him to copy the true Captains image. This guy needs a piece of DNA in order to be able to turn himself into a perfect copy, and inside the Captains desk is a fragment of his shell. Get that, and after about four or five hours, he'll be forced to change forms. When he changes forms, that's when we got him."

"Fine, you've given me no reason to doubt you in the past... I'll do it."

"Great!"

Lloyd got up from the table. "One last question, the shell fragment, how big is it? And what shape?"

The Squirtle pointed to a spot on his shoulder. "See here?" Lloyd walked over and saw a medium sized chuck of the Squirtles shell lost. "That's it there, that's the hole the piece came from."

"Wait a sec... Are you trying to tell me YOU'RE the Captain?"

"Haha, figured that out finally, did ya? Yes, I am the actual, factual, leader of the Brotherhood, known by most as the Captain. Now, anymore questions?"

"Uh, ah... No." Lloyd was void of any words. While the information was a surprise, Lloyd had a feeling. And both had the same, unusual green colored shells.

"Well, I think you better go catch up with your friends then. When everyone goes to sleep, go into my office and grab the shell fragment and then bring it down stairs, where I'll be waiting for you."

"What else?"

"The next morning, tell the secretary that there is a friend outside waiting for him, then come out and meet me out front before he gets here. We'll catch him and tie him to a chair or something until he is forced to take on another form. Once he does, we'll tell everyone, and the Brotherhood will have its Captain for the first time in a long time."

"I'll try not to fail you." Lloyd said, sounding somewhat confident in himself. But inside he knew he was afraid of getting caught. Lloyd had no idea what might happen if he was caught sneaking around at night, stealing from the Captain that nobody knows is actually a impersonator. "I'll you tonight then."

"All right, good luck."

Lloyd drank the rest of his drink, which no longer had any ice left, and stood up. "Thanks." Was the last thing he said, and then Lloyd left to go back to the HQ.

---

"I can't believe how cute this thing is!"

"But what about our beds? They've been shredded!"

"Can't sleep on the floor for one night Isaac?"

Lloyd walking into Team Valiants room and saw the most unexpected thing. Every bed was completely ruined, and all of the pillows looked chewed open, their innards pulled out and thrown all over the room. What confused Lloyd the most was nobody seemed to be overly concerned. Instead, Rita, Isaac and Sakura were all gathered around in a circle in the back of the room.

"Hey guys."

Rita looked behind her and saw Lloyd. "Oh, hey Lloyd, didn't hear you come in."

Lloyd noticed that the Celebi was nowhere to be seen. "Hey wheres..."

"Don't worry Lloyd." She said, interrupting him. "We told Ewan about her and he's taking care of her right now. Said she would probably be fine in the morn... Hey where are you going?"

Lloyd looked at Rita, confused at the last thing she said. He wasn't going anywhere.

He then noticed a small pokemon he had never seen before slowly crawl out from behind the crowd of his teammates and look up at him curiously. It looked similar to a Pichu, only this thing had red fur where the black fur was supposed to be. Not only that, but it had much larger, flatter eats, and it had what looked like an addition symbol on its tail.

"What is this pokemon doing here?" Lloyd asked. His eyes locked on to the eyes of the little pokemon.

"That egg, the one in that was in Regals incubator when we left... It hatched."

The little pokemon walked over to Lloyd and actually hugged Lloyds leg, holding tight. Lloyd couldn't get over how adorable this pokemon was.

"It's called a Plusle." Said Isaac. "It's extremely rare in these parts. I read in a book awhile ago that these things mostly live on a bunch of Islands to the far west of Havok City along with another, similar pokemon called Minun."

The Plusle looked up at Lloyd, let go of his leg, and raised its tiny arms straight into the air. Even Lloyd, who had no experience with kids that he knew of, knew this meant it wanted to be picked up.

Lloyd leaned down, and lifted it up, cradling it in his arms.

"Aww, how adorable, it likes you Lloyd!" Said Rita.

Then suddenly, the little Plusle reached up to Lloyds face, and pinched both of his big, yellow cheeks. Since this was where Raichu, as well as all of Lloyds evolutionary stages, stored electricity, the action caused the Plusle to receive a huge shock, sending sparks flying and brightening the room for a second.

Lloyd was worried that the newborn might have just seriously hurt itself, or even just killed itself accidentally. But when Lloyd looked down, it had a huge smile on its face, and then giggled with delight.

He looked at everyone else, who all looked worried about the shock, and told them, "Don't worry, Its fine." He held the Plusle out for everyone to see to prove it.

"Why would it shock itself like that?" Asked Sakura.

Lloyd shrugged. "Maybe it feeds off the electricity somehow? Kind of like how most pokemon drink milk when they are very young."

"Maybe we could find out more about it the Library?" Suggested Rita. "I mean, we know nothing about what it eats or anything like that."

Lloyd looked at the time. "It's still pretty early for bed, that sounds like a good idea. You guys go to the Library, I'm gonna go to Ewans room and see how that Celebi is doing."

While Lloyd was genuinely worried about Celebi, that wasn't the real reason he wanted to go see Ewan.

"All right, come on guys lets go!"

Lloyd tried to pass of the Plusle by putting it on Ritas back, but the thing wouldn't let go of him. It desperately held on to Lloyd as if he was trying to throw it off a cliff.

"I don't think it wants to leave you Lloyd, why don't you look after it for now?"

"I guess I can." He said. Lloyd secretly hoped this Plusle thing would let go of him when he had to sneak into the Captains room later.

---

Lloyd knocked on the door of Team Torrents room, but moments passed and nobody answered. Lloyd knocked on the door again.

"Yeah, yeah, hold your Ponytas." The voice wasn't Ewans, it must have belonged to one of his team mates.

When the door opened, their was a Poliwhirl there to greet him.

"Can I help you?" It said with a lot of attitude.

"Umm, yeah, I need to see Ewan for a sec."

The Poliwhirl sighed loudly, as if Lloyds request was a lot more trouble then it actually was. "Stay here then." And then the Poliwhirl walked off, leaving the door open.

Lloyd heard some talking, but couldn't tell what was being said. A second later, Ewan was at the door.

"Oh, heeeeeey Lloyd! Wait...did you evolve? And who's the kid?" Ewan said, pointing at the Plusle newborn that was snuggling up against Lloyd as he held it in his arms.

"Oh, well I evolved recently actually. And this is a newborn pokemon that hatched in our room awhile we were away at the academy, it's called a Plusle."

"Wow, sounds like your teams had a pretty eventful night."

_You don't know the half of it._ Lloyd thought. "So, about that pokemon Rita and the others brought you..."

"Oh yes, that strange pokemon. We've given her some medicine, and she seems to be alright now, just sleeping quietly."

Ewan lead Lloyd over to one of the beds, where the Celebi was sleeping. It was underneath the covers and looked comfortable enough. He put the Plusle down on the bed, and walked over to where Celebi was lying.

"Wow, just wow." Said Ewan. "I still can't believe you've evolved."

But Lloyd wasn't really listening. He was occupied with Celebi, and was filled with a mixture of emotions. He felt guilty about Celebi getting so hurt because she was protecting him, and felt glad that he had managed to bring her safely to the Brotherhood HQ before her condition worsened.

"...Like I've known you forever, but we only met for the first time a few days ago. Funny thing that..."

Just then, something caught Lloyds eye._ Did Celebi just move?_ He asked himself.

He saw it again, this time it was unmistakable. Celebi did in fact just move her head a little bit. Was she just shifting around, or was she actually waking up?

Lloyd waited, but Celebi had stopped moving, and was quietly resting again. She definitely wasn't waking up.

"... But my father on the other hand, he evolved twice! I can only imagine how it felt, transforming into a powerful Swampert. Although, he evolved in the bathroom, which had this tiny door, so he was stuck there for hours! Good times..."

"Umm, Ewan, I better be going. Its getting late."

"Oh, yes it is. Guess we can always chat again another time." Ewan said, sighing afterwards.

"Uhh, sure. Sounds good." Lloyd went over and picked up Plusle. "I'll see you later Ewan."

Lloyd walked out of Team Torrents room, and made way for his own room.

---

It was late at night now, and everyone was asleep. Because the beds were destroyed by the Plusle, everyone had to sleep on the floor, using spare blankets taken out of one of the drawers. Lloyd slept with the little baby Plusle, who still refused to leave his side.

By the time everyone got to bed, the Plusle had shocked itself by touching Lloyds electrified cheeks three times. This thing had shocked itself so many times with so much electricity, any other pokemon its sized would be burnt to a crisp.

"I'll have to look up some information about you tomorrow." He whispered to the Plusle, who was cuddled up against Lloyd. He then stood up, being careful not to wake said baby pokemon. "But right now, I've got a job to do."

Lloyd looked around the room, looking at each of his team mates. They all looked to be asleep.

Satisfied nobody was awake, Lloyd quietly tip-toed to the door, opened it, and walked out into the hall.

Not long afterwards. The Plusle woke up, and followed Lloyd out the door he had forgotten to close.


	36. Taking Back the Brotherhood

Chapter 36: Taking Back the Brotherhood

The hallways of the Brotherhood were dark, and totally silent. Lloyd contemplated using a spark to add some light like had done when he went down the stairs to the database room, but he was worried someone would see it and catch him sneaking around. He decided to just walk quietly and carefully down the halls and hope that he didn't walk face first into a wall.

When he got to the elevator, he pressed the button that would bring it to the Captains office at the top floor of the Headquarters. The doors opened, then closed with a faint mechanical whine, but it didn't make enough noise to make Lloyd worried about alerting anyone who might be nearby.

The elevator started to rise and Lloyd felt a familiar sick sensation in his stomach, but he repressed it the best he could, focusing on his goal and nothing but.

The doors opened finally. The room in front of the Captains office, where the desk of his secretary was located, was just as empty as the hallways on the basement floor. The room was brighter then the other places he was just through, thanks to the light coming through the windows, but it was still very dark since the windows were pretty small.

When the doors of the elevator closed again, Lloyd thought he heard another sound, like footsteps that didn't belong to him. When he looked back behind him, and all around the room, he saw nothing and nobody, and figured it was just his mind playing tricks on him.

Lloyd quietly walked over to the door to the Captains office and opened it. He was hoping that, like everywhere else, that the office would be dark and completely empty. Neither of these things were true about the Captains office.

The room was illuminated by a desk lamp, which was the only thing that provided any light, because all of the windows were closed with curtains. And there was a pokemon in the room that wasn't Lloyd, the false Captain himself, asleep at the desk that was in the center of the room.

_Great, how am I supposed to get that shell fragment now? _

Lloyd stepped towards the desk very slowly, making sure each step he took made absolutely no sound at all. He got to the desk, and the false captain was still asleep. He opened up each drawer, quietly rummaging around to find the shell. Eventually he found it, hidden underneath a drawer full of paperwork.

As he carefully pulled the shell fragment out, he heard a small "Thump" sound on the desk. He looked at the 'Captain', but he was still asleep. Lloyd looked around where the sound had come from, and there, on top of the desk, was standing the Plusle newborn.

_Please, please, please don't make any noise!_

Plusle slowly walked over to where Lloyd was, and because Lloyd was kneeling over to search the desk, he was face to face with the newborn.

_Oh, oh no. Please don't do what I think you're about..._ But it did exactly what Lloyd was worried about. The Plusle grabbed both of Lloyd cheeks, which caused it to get a huge electrical shock, sending sparks flying in every direction.

When Plusle finally let go, Lloyd looked immediately at the fake Captain. He snorted, shifted slightly in his chair, and kept on sleeping in the desk chair.

"Whew."

But then Lloyd noticed something else. One of the sparks must have flown over and hit the stack of papers that was on the far end of the desk, they had caught fire and were burning brightly.

Lloyd ran over and tried to pat the flames out, but he saw the false Captain sniff the air, and opened his eyes.

"Huh... wha... Fire!" He yelled as soon as he was fully awake. Lloyd fully expected him to shoot the fire out with a Water Gun attack or something, but instead he smacked the stack of papers off the desk and stomped on them a few times, eventually putting out the fire.

"You!" He yelled, pointing at Lloyd. "What are you doing in my office? ... What the, the shell fragment! Give it to me!"

"No." Said Lloyd in a defiant tone.

"... What?"

"I know who you are... or at least... I know that you're not really the Captain."

"How... how did you find out?!"

"The REAL Captain told me, and based on what I'm hearing, everything he said and showed me was true."

"You... You'll ruin everything!" The fake captain ran over to his desk, and before Lloyd could react, he had turned off the desk lamp. The room was now pitch black.

Lloyd heard the fake captain run at him, but Lloyd wasn't able to see him and didn't have enough time to try to locate him. He braced himself for whatever attack was coming, but when the fake captain reached him, all he did was scratch Lloyds arm and kept running.

"When I am done with you, I'm going to throw you and your entire team into prison for betraying the Brotherhood. How ironic would that be?" He laughed loudly from somewhere in the office. "I am Lancet, the worlds greatest scientist, and loyal servant to Mewtwo! And now, I shall show you one of my favorite creations..."

The curtains that covered the windows all fell to the ground, and Lloyd saw that the sun was just starting to rise over the far off mountains. The light shinnied into the office and Lloyd had no troubles being able to see.

Lloyd looked around, but couldn't find the guy who he now knew as "Lancet". Lloyd heard someone land on the Captains desk, and when he looked in that direction he couldn't believe what he saw. Looking at Lloyd with a devilish grin was a Raichu, but not just any Raichu... it looked exactly like he did, a perfect twin.

"Surprise!" He said.

"How did you..."

"I invented a small device quite some time ago that, with a small sample of DNA, allows me to look like whom ever I choose." He pointed to a device around his wrist that looked like a watch. "That is how I've been impersonating the Captain for so long, and its how I've copied your form!"

Lloyd didn't like having to fight himself like this, even if it wasn't really him. Just the fact that he was beating on what looked exactly like himself was just plain weird.

Suddenly, the Lloyd lookalike leapt at the real Lloyd, slamming him to the ground then pinning him down.

Lancet punched Lloyd twice in head, but Lloyd moved his head just as the third punch came at him, and Lancet missed, causing him to punch the hard, metal floor instead. As he cried out in pain, Lloyd shoved him off with all of his strength sending Lancet flying onto the Captains desk, which broke the desk in half.

Lloyd ran over to the broken desk, but Lancet was gone.

"Lloyd!"

Lloyd turned around and saw Rita standing at the door.

"Lloyd, what's going on? What are you doing here?"

Lloyd looked around the room, trying to find where Lancet was hiding. "Rita, you've got to get out of here, it isn't... AHH!"

Lloyd didn't notice that Rita had transformed into the exact same Raichu he was looking for. While distracted, Lancet was able to transform again and punch Lloyd right in the stomach. The force of the blow knocked all of the wind out of Lloyd, and brought him to his knees. He looked up, and saw Lancet holding a small leaf, and a tissue with a small amount of blood on it.

"You see, I've got samples of your friends DNA as well. This leaf was from your Chikorita friends Razor Leaf attack that I took from Havok Sewers final area, and the blood I got from you only a few moments ago."

_So that's why he scratched my arm like that._

Lancet stepped closer to Lloyd.

"Well, I'm quite done with this fighting. I hope you and your friends enjoy your new home in the Brotherhood jail. Once I use this shell to transform back into the Captain I'll tell everyone that you tried to kill me, and that your entire team was working with you to do it. Wait, no, scratch that, YOU will be going to the boss. I had almost forgotten he was looking for you. He sure will be happy about this, I'm sure."

Lloyd tried to stand up and continue fighting, but Lancet struck Lloyd right in the back of the head, knocking him out instantly.

Lancet dragged Lloyd over to the Captains desk, and took the shell out of his hand. He grasped it firmly in his hand, and a second later, he had transformed back in a Wartortle.

He reached down to the desk, and opened one of the drawers. Lancet pulled out a small handheld radio and began to tune the frequency to Mewtwos personally radio signal.

---

Lloyd opened his eyes, but was nothing but black. At first he thought he was trapped somewhere, stuffed inside a box or something so Lancet could take him away. But when Lloyd tried to move his body he found himself completely unrestrained.

Then he recognized where he was, it was the same place he met with Shadow last night. It was Lloyds own mind.

"Why hello there Lloyd." Shadow said, appearing out of nowhere in his Celebi form. "Did that Lancet fellow give you a bump on the head?"

"Well, yeah, you were there weren't ya?"

"Indeed I was. So... Are you gonna just let him take you like this?"

"What am I supposed to do? I'm unconscious, as you well know."

"Ah yes, well then... I guess I'll have to do it then. Be right back."

Before Lloyd could say anything, Shadow disappeared and took over Lloyds body.

---

"Yes boss, yes, yes I have him right here now. No, nobody else knows about me. Where did he find out? He said that the real Captain told him who I was... No I don't know how he got his memory back, and no I don't know where he is right now. Yes boss... Alright then, send over those two idiots to pick up Lloyd, I'll tie him up securely just in case he wakes up on the way."

As soon as Lancet had finished his call to Mewtwo, something weird about Lloyd caught his eye.

He put down his radio and got out of his chair to investigate. He noticed that Lloyd was still out like a light, but something was happening to him, something Lancet had never seen before. Out of nowhere, a strange, black fog engulfed Lloyds entire body, until Lloyds yellow body was completely hidden beneath it. Once that had happened, lancet saw Lloyds arm move, and then his legs. Despite being knocked out only moments ago, Lloyd was waking up and taking on some new, weird form.

"What is going on?" Lancet asked himself out loud.

Lloyd, who was now standing all the way up, responded to him. "You should be more worried about what is about to happen." Lloyd opened his eyes and Lancet couldn't believe what he saw, Lloyds eyes were blood red, like frozen orbs of blood. Combined with the shadowy aura and his unexplainable recovery, the whole scene was like something from a nightmare.

Lancet collected himself, trying to sound as calm and in control as possible. "I don't know what just happened, but don't start thinking you can get away from me now Lloyd."

In an unbelievable show of speed, Lloyd ran to him and was now face to face with Lancet. Before he could do anything, Lloyd grabbed Lancet by the throat and lifted him into the air.

"It's too bad really." Lloyd said. "If you were right in your assumption, and I was actually Lloyd, you might not be in such a dangerous position."

"What... what do you mean?" Lancet said, having trouble speaking as he struggled to breath.

"I am not Lloyd, I'm merely a prisoner in his body, thanks to your boss. And I'm also the one who is about to kill you."

_Not if I have anything to say about it._

Just as... who ever this pokemon was, started to squeeze harder on Lancets throat, Lancet transformed back into his true form, and used one of his claws to clash at the arm of his attacker, forcing him to drop him.

Lancet knew he had no chance against this new opponent, so before who ever had taken over Lloyds body could recover, Lancet sprinted towards the window, jumped through, and turned into a massive Fearow, allowing him to fly away to safety.

—

Shadow sighed. "Oh well." He said as he watched Lancet soar away into the sunset.

"_You shouldn't have tried to kill him Shadow! We might have been able to get information from him or something."_

_You want to get information? Spare your opponents? Then actually put up a decent fight, you barely lasted a minute against him._

Lloyd didn't say anything in response.

_Well, its morning, and the last thing I want is for the both of us to get caught in my form again. I don't care if you're awake or not, take over now._

The dark fog around shadow began to fade, and once control of Lloyds body was given to Lloyd again, he fell to the ground.

---

An hour passed, and Lloyd, as well as the Captains trashed office, was discover by the Lopunny secretary. She called Team Torrent to come up and investigate.

Ewan came in a few minutes later, and his mouth was wide open with surprise at what he saw inside the office.

"What happened here?" He asked the secretary.

"I have no idea! I just opened the door to see if the Captain was in here, and as soon as I saw all of this I called you!"

"Alright then, just go and relax and me and my team will deal with everything."

She nodded and left.

As his team spread out in the office and cleaned up the mess that was made, Ewan walked over to Lloyd and checked for a pulse. Ewan was happy to find out Lloyd was alive, and only unconscious. He aimed at Lloyds face and squirted a small water gun at him to hopefully wake him up.

Lloyd immediately sat up, spitting water out of his mouth. "Ewan!"

"Lloyd, what happened here? Where's the Captain?"

Lloyd looked like he didn't know what he was going to say. "Well... It's kind of a long story... You would never believe me... The..."

"Ahem, hello gentlemen." Everyone turned towards the door. Lloyd was happy to see the real Captain standing at the door, a friendly smile on his face.

"Wait, who are you? The Captains brother or sister or something?" Ewan asked.

"Nope I'm the Captain, in the flesh."

Ewan shook his head. "No, the Captain evolve nearly a year ago, I remember the exact day it happened."

"Hmph... Ok then, test me, ask me something only I would know."

Ewan thought for a moment. "All right then... Back when we were just rookies, where were we when Ivan got sick off of a rotten berry during a mission?"

"That's easy, Stark Valley, not far to the south. And you got something wrong Ewan, it wasn't a rotten berry, it was perfectly good. The reason he got sick was because it was a Cherri Berry, and Ivan is allergic to them."

Ewan was speechless.

"So, want to test me further, or do you believe me?"

"But... How? You're a Squirtle again!"

"I'll explain later Ewan, I have a lot I need to update you, your team, and the entire Brotherhood with." The Captain walked over to Lloyd, who was still siting up on the floor at Ewans feet. "Lloyd, while Lancet got away, I want to thank you for all that you've done. As promised..." The Captain pulled out another piece of paper from his shell. "On this is the coordinates to the building you will find the machine I used. Just use a map to find it. Take today off and go there right away."

Lloyd took the paper, and nodded. "Thank you, thank you so much Captain."

"Don't worry about it, now go to your room so your friends don't worry."

Lloyd nodded. "Plusle! We gotta go back to the room now!" Lloyd called out, hoping the little pokemon heard and understood him. Luckily Plusle did hear him, the baby pokemon walked into the office from the front room where the elevator and secretaries desk was. Lloyd picked uo Plusle with one arm, and was clutching the paper with the other, excited about finally finding a way to recover his lost memories.

The Captain walked over to the shell fragment and picked it up. "Um, Ewan, get one of your teammates to find some glue or something. Please."

---

On his way back to Team Valiants room, Lloyd spotted a familar face going in the same direction as him. It was Jennifer and she looked like she had spent the entire night in the rain.

Lloyd ran down the hallway to catch up to her. "Hey, Jennifer! Over here!"

Jennifer turned around. "Oh, hey Lloyd. How did your mission at the academy go?"

When Lloyd caught up to her, they both walked down the hall that went from the elevator to the team rooms. "Fine, we found the student and came home all in one piece."

"How's Isaac?"

"I'm not sure... He has been quiet for awhile now. Not sure why."

They reached their room. "Well, I guess I can ask him if anything is wrong. I wanted to talk to him anyways." But when she opened the door, it was immediately obvious that wasn't going to happen. Isaac wasn't in their room at all.

"Lloyd! Jennifer!" Said Rita, with a worried voice. "Isaac, he's gone!"

"Where?" Asked Jennifer. "Where has he gone?"

Rita pointed to a note that was resting on one of the beds that the Plusle had destroyed last night. "That weirdo Charmander from one of the other teams came up here and wasn't making much sense, then he gave that note to Isaac and he left without a word."

Jennifer picked up the note and read it out loud.

_**Dear Team Valiant**_

_**I have taken two members of the Brotherhood and am holding them captive. If you want to see either of them alive, send Isaac ALONE to Sunset Spire. If anyone else comes, or he tries anything funny, I'm letting these too drop from the very top of the spire.**_

_**You have been warned. Maverick.**_

"Oh no..." Said Jennifer, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "Isaac is going to go fight Maverick by himself!"

"That's gotta be a trap." Said Lloyd. "We can't let him go alone like this."

"Lloyd, stop and think." Said Rita. "You heard what Maverick wrote, if we go and try to help, Maverick is gonna kill both of these pokemon."

"We have to do something! Isaac can't do this by himself!"

Lloyd thought for a moment. "When did Isaac leave Rita?"

"Just over an hour ago."

"Ok then, that gives us plenty of time to catch up to him then. If we hurry we can reach him before he gets there, and we'll tak about it with him from there."

"Sounds good." Said Rita. "But who's gonna stay here? Someone needs to look after that baby Plusle thing."

"Hmm... Rita, do you still have that infinity stone? The one we got from the sewer?"

Rita nodded and pulled out the stone, which was wrapped in cloth, from one of the drawers. "What do you want me to do with it?"

"We can't leave the Plusle behind, it seems to feed off of my electricity. But I can't stay behind either. We need someone who is good with kids, and can take care of them, even in the wasteland."

"You mean you want me to waste my stone... on him?"

Lloyd nodded.

"Great... That's just great... You owe me a stone Lloyd."

Rita handed Lloyd the cloth wrapped infinity stone. Lloyd carefully unwrapped the stone and walked over to the far side of the room, where Regal, currently a metapod, was leaning against the wall.

Lloyd reached out and touched the stone to Regal, and immediately both he and the stone began to glow brightly. Lloyd had to shield his eyes it was so bright.

A moment later, the light died down, and everyone watched as Regals outter shell began to crack. The opening in the crack opened wider and wider, and eventually, everyone could see the Butterfree that Regal had become. The metapod shell finally split wide open, and Regal, now an amazing looking Butterfree, emerged and fluttered to the top of the room.

"Oh, yes! Finally free! I'm finally out of that horrible cocoon!" He yelled out happily as he flew around in circles above everyone. "Wow! Flying is absolutely incredible!"

After one last lap, Regal flew down to greet everyone. "Hello all! What a glorious day this is! How is everyone doing?" Regal then noticed several additions to the group, as well as the missing Isaac. "Oh, who are these two?"

"My name is Sakura." She introduced herself. "I joined at the academy after we pulled you and Isaac out of the cave in."

"And this." Said Lloyd, holding up Plusle. "Is the pokemon from the egg."

Regal immediately flew over to Lloyd and picked up Plusle. "Oh wonderful! And what an adorable little girl you are!"

"It's a girl?" Asked Lloyd.

"Well, its easy to tell without getting... up close and private, if you know what to look for. With Plusle, as well as Minun, you can tell based on the length of their tails. Males have slightly longer tails then the females at this age. Also, if I remember correctly, females have more fur around the ears. Yes, I am sure this one is a girl."

"Wow, you're better with children then we thought." Said Lloyd.

"Well, when I was taking care of Rita, the only literature the queen would allow me to read were child care books. I learned quite a bit. Did you know Plusle feed off of electricity, and not milk, at infancy?"

Lloyd rubbed his cheeks. "Yeah, I knew that."

"Listen, Regal, we need you to look after Plusle. All of us need to catch up to Isaac."

"What happened to him? I noticed he wasn't around."

Lloyd handed him the note from Maverick.

"Oh dear, so Isaac is going to this Sunset Spire place without us then?" He said after reading the note.

"Yep." Said Rita. "And we need to catch up to him before we gets there, otherwise someone is going to get hurt, or worse."

"Alright then, we should go right away then." Said Regal. Everyone nodded in agreement. Sakura and Rita picked up the bags they prepared for the journey, and walked out into the hall. Jenn. Lloyd was about to join them when Regal stopped him.

"Umm, Lloyd, about the baby. I'm guessing you haven't given her a name yet?"

The very thought never even came to Lloyd. "Uh, no."

"Well, how would you like to come up with the name?"

"Alright, I'll try to think of something."

Regal lifted the Plusle out of Lloyds arms and flew off down the hall to catch up with the rest of Team Valiant.

Lloyd took the paper with the coordinates to the machine in a drawer, then ran to catch up with his friends.

_I'll have to wait until we save Isaac before I can get my memories back. Friends come first._

---

Earlier that morning.

Isaac was just leaving the Brotherhood Headquarter, a small bag packed full food for the long trip. He walked right out of the city, not looking at any of the passing pokemon in the streets.

When he got outside the city walls, he began to walk towards the direction where the Sunset Spire was located, but was interrupted when he heard something behind him.

He turned around and saw a Weaville, leaning up against the wall next to the cities archway.

"Hello Isaac." She said.

"... Who are you? How do you know my name?"

"Because she and I work together, brother." Said a very familiar voice.

Maverick walked through the same archway Isaac had just passed through himself, only there was a big difference now. Maverick was now an Empoleon, and not the Prinplup he was way back in Celsius Cave.

"What are you doing here Maverick! You said you were at Sunset Spire!"

Maverick laughed. "I lied. I knew you would go alone, and I'm willing to bet your friends will try to chase you down soon. Sunset Spire was a trap Isaac, as I am sure you have guessed already. Only... That trap is for your friends to spring, yours is right here."

Full of hate and anger, Isaac fired off a Bubble attack, which hit Maverick, not doing anything at all. "Hahaha, you're weak Isaac!"

"Maverick, would you just finish the little vermin off already?!" Said the Weaville with obvious impatience.

"Haha, Alright then." With speed Isaac would never guess a pokemon Mavericks size could pull off, Maverick ran at Isaac and swatted him with his wing, sending Isaac flying into the air and crashing into the sand. Isaac lost consciousness as soon as he landed.

"Great job." The Weaville, Crimson, said sarcastically. "Now grab him and lets go, I'm bored."

Laughing the whole way, Maverick walked over to Isaacs body, and heaved him over his shoulder. Both he and Crimson left Havok City without anyone ever seeing what had happened.

Half an hour later, Lloyd arrived in Room 160 and found the note that would lead everyone to the trap Mewtwo had set.


	37. Finding a Way Out

Chapter 37: Escape from the Infinity Stone Factory

Isaac finally woke up in a pitch black room somewhere, as far as he could tell he was alone. His whole body ached from Mavericks attack, more then anything his head.

Isaac sat up and rested against a wall, keeping his eyes open so his vision could adjust to the darkness. Eventually, he saw he was in a completely empty, and fairly small room. There was no furniture, no windows, nothing except him.

_Where am I?_ He asked himself. _Where did those two take me?_

He stood up, and tried to walk around, but he found that his foot was chained to the wall securely. He slumped back onto the cold, hard floor, knowing there was nothing he could possibly do at all.

_So much has happened... First seeing Lloyd transform into what ever that creature was, then him saving my life not a day later. Now I'm stuck here, with no way out and knowing that something bad Is going to happen to my friends..._ Isaac sighed, and closed his eyes. _I wish dad was here, he would know what to do._

Isaacs thoughts were interrupted when he heard not one, but two strange noises. Both sounds were a loud "Click", both coming from inside his room.

He looked around to see if anything was different, and he was surprised to see that the shackle attached to the chains that trapped him had opened themselves, freeing his foot. Curious, he walked over to the large metal door, and pressed up against it. The door, too, was unlocked.

_What's going on here? Is this another trap?_

Isaac didn't care, there was no point in staying behind in his tiny prison cell, so he opened the door wide and walked out into the hall. The hallway was dark, and the only thing that illuminated it was a rotating red light. Typically when there was nothing but a red light illuminating a building, something bad was happening.

_Bad for them maybe._

Isaac ran down the empty halls, trying to make as little noise as possible.

---

Somewhere in that same building, Maverick and Crimson the Weavile looked at the image of a pokemon who was on a large computer monitor.

"This is Mewtwo. What is going on?"

"We have no idea sir." Responded Crimson. "Someone turned off the power to the entire building, and were on backup power right now. We've locked every door to the outside so we can track down the people who have done this."

"Do you have any idea who could have done this? The Brotherhood."

"No sir. None of Lancets reports suggested they were planning on attacking this facility, and there is no way they could have planned this in the time since his true identity was found out. It must have been someone else."

Just then, as he was sneaking through the hallway, Isaac heard the conversation taking place, and had snuck up to the door so he could hear clearly what was being said.

"Whoever it is, I want you to find them, and kill them immediately, no prisoners. This factory is far too important to lose to some random act of sabotage."

"As you wish sir, me and Maverick will sweep the building immediately." Just then, Mewtwos image on the computer screen disappeared.

"What about Isaac?" Asked Maverick. "Isn't his cell locked electronically like the rest of the building?"

"Yep, and that means he is free and probably roaming around the halls as well."

Isaac heard Maverick smack the table with frustration. "He better not escape."

"He wont" Crimson said with confidence. "The building is one-hundred percent locked down, this includes all vents, windows and emergency exits, nobody gets out of this place until I reverse the lock down."

"Fine. I'm going to go to the cell area and see if Isaac is really gone."

Isaac realized if Maverick or Crimson left the room, he would be the first thing he noticed. He panicked, and ran over to a nearby room to hide in. He hid underneath a table that was near the door, and could still hear Maverick and Crimsons voice in the neighboring room.

"Alright, but remember Maverick, priority is finding the one who did this and turning the power back on. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah..."

Isaac heard the sounds of footsteps, both going in different directions. He waited until both of the sounds slowly faded away, until they were far enough away he could no longer hear them. He then got out from underneath the table, and ran into the room Maverick and Crimson just were.

The room seemed to be where everything was controlled. There was small monitors that covered the entire right wall, as well as one, big monitor that the pokemon Mewtwos image was on.

Isaac looked around to see if there was anything here that could help him, and eventually he found a large map that was spread out on a table in one of the back corners. Unfortunately, since he didn't know where he was, and the map didn't have any markers, it didn't look like it would be useful for getting around. Eventually Isaac found a small label at the corner of the map, on it read "Infinity Stone Factory Map, First and Second Floor."

_Well, at least I know where I am... Kinda._

Suddenly Isaac heard footsteps again, heading straight towards him. Either that Crimson person, or Maverick, was coming back for some reason. Wasting no time, Isaac jumped from the table with the map on it and hid underneath it, hoping that whoever was coming wasn't going to see him there.

Isaac was surprised when he saw that the pokemon that had come into the room wasn't a Weavile or Empoleon. It was a Nidorina that had walked in.

Isaac saw her walk straight towards him, not hesitating at all. He figured this must be someone who worked at the factory who was told to help find him, and somehow did so. Isaac pressed himself against the far wall, and hoped this wasn't the case, and that he was still well hidden and not about to be found any time soon.

"So that's where you've been hiding, huh? You're all mine now!"

_Oh no..._

The Nidorina pulled the map off the table. "Can't believe how long it took me to find a bloody map. Now I can get out of here." The Nidorina took the map, turned around and began to walk out of the room.

Isaac let out a sigh of relief.

Right then, the Nidorina stopped in her tracks, turned around, and ran back to the table where she had just taken the map, then bent down and looked straight at Isaac.

"Ah ha, I knew someone was watching me! Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Isaac didn't know what to say.

"Speak up! It would be a shame if I had to..." She punched at the air a few times. "Take you out."

_Who the heck is this crazy girl?_ Isaac thought about his options. He could just push her out of the way and run, or he could hope that she meant him no harm, and tell her who he was.

"You know what, I don't care. You best not tell anyone about me or otherwise... I'll be back." She punched one hand into the palm of her other hand, and then turn around, running out of the room and leaving Isaac alone and confused.

Once the Nidorinas footsteps disappeared down the hallway, Isaac got out from underneath the table and brushed some dust off of himself. _Could she be the other pokemon Maverick and Crimson are looking for?_

Knowing he had no reason to stay here anymore, Isaac went out into the hall and continued to go down it in the same direction he was going before.

---

Isaac wandered the hallways of the factory for what felt like an hour. So far he had no encounters with either Crimson or Maverick, but Isaac still tried to stay as quiet as he could as he tried to find a way out, just in case.

Eventually, Isaac came across a door leading to another room, one with a particularly intriguing sign on it.

_**Office 1E-3T - Factory Database**_

_Perfect._ Thought Isaac._ I'm bound to find something useful in getting me out of this place in there._

He reach up and turned the knob ,and luckily for him, the door wasn't locked. He opened the door and found the room to look much like a very small library. There was bookshelves full different colored books, but the room was so small, it looked like the room used to be a broom closet or something.

Isaac closed the door behind him and went over to the bookshelves. It was hard to read what was written on the sides of them, since his only light was the dim red light that illuminated almost every part of the factory he had been in so far.

Eventually, Isaac spotted a book that had the title, _**Creating the Infinity Stone, By Dr. James Irving.**_

_Wow._ Thought Isaac. _This could be some useful information for me to bring back to the Brotherhood Headquarters._

Isaac opened the book and skimmed through to find any information that could be useful. Eventually he got to a page titled _**Materials.**_ Isaac began to read to himself underneath one of the red lights.

_**To create a Infinity Stone, there are three key "Ingredients". **_

_**First, you need an evolutionary stone. Anyone will work at all, Fire, Leaf, Sun... As long as it evolves a pokemon, it will work.**_

_**Second, you need a special chemical extracted from various metals known as "AE-1", also known as "The Deactivation Formula." With it, you are able to erase the stones ability to evolve. AE-1 is black, and has a thick, sticky consistency, much like tar or oil. For the metals that contain the chemical, and how to extract it, turn to page 64.**_

_**Finally, the last ingredient is a rather difficult item to acquire, and one that many would consider wrong to try to acquire. Using a...**_

But Isaac stopped reading. At first he thought it was his imagination, but now he was sure, someone was coming down the hall. Isaac closed the book, and pressed up against the door so he could hear better.

The footsteps got closer and closer until eventually, they were right outside the door, and then they stopped.

Isaac looked up and saw the door had a lock on it, so he reached up and quietly locked the door so whoever was outside wouldn't be able to get to him. Isaac heard the doorknob turn, and the door being unsuccessfully pushed open.

"Locked..." It was Maverick. It was him trying to get inside.

Isaacs heart was beating fast, he was trapped and if Maverick had a key or something, there was no way for Isaac to escape.

It felt like Maverick stood outside the door for an eternity, but eventually, he began to walk away. Isaac waited until Mavericks footsteps were gone before he opened the door to look around. He peeked around the corner, and saw that both sides of the hallway were complete empty.

"Whew."

Not wishing to stay in the factory longer then he had to, Isaac grabbed the book he was reading and brought it with him as he continued down he hallway again.

---

Isaac wandered the halls for another hour. He was starting to get tired of walking around the red lit hallways and looking into empty offices looking for a way out, he just wanted to finally get out and go warn his friends about the trap.

Suddenly, all of the red lights went out, and not a moment later, the regular lights all came on, brightly lighting up the hallways.

_Well that's good, at least now I can see, and the doors outside should open now._

Isaac remembered seeing an electronically locking door awhile back, and decided to turn back and go investigate. But when Isaac looked back, he saw something he was hoping not to see again anytime soon At the far end of the hallway was Maverick, looking in Isaacs direction.

Isaac turned to run away, and Maverick began to run down the hall towards him. Isaac needed to find a way to escape or hide, because Maverick was much faster then himself, and it wouldn't be long before Maverick caught up.

Isaac ran through an open door into a very large room, one filled with conveyor belts transporting what looked like Infinity Stones all over the place.

Isaac was on what looked like a balcony overlooking the main part of the factory. There was only three ways off of it, back through the door he had just ran through, a door at the far end of the balcony, and jumping down to the ground floor.

With no other option, Isaac ran towards the door at the other end of the balcony. Just as he got to it, the door closed by itself, and Isaac could hear a loud "Click" sound, which was obviously the door locking itself.

Unable to go back through the other door, and with the balcony far to high for him to jump down, he was now trapped, and Maverick was coming right for him.

Isaac had to think fast, the last thing he wanted was to get caught now.

---

Maverick finally was getting close to where Isaac was, he ran down the hall and through the doorway and found... Nothing. Maverick stood on the balcony, and it was a dead end. He held a small radio and spoke into it.

"He must have made it through the door before it closed. You mind opening it back up?"

"KRSHHHHHH"

Maverick shook the radio. "Ugh, is this thing busted? Crimson, can you hear me?"

"KRSHHHHHH"

Frustrated, Maverick threw the radio over the edge, which nearly hit Isaac, who was hanging over the edge to avoid being spotted by Maverick.

---

Isaac didn't know how much longer he could hold on, he hoped that Maverick would leave soon before he slipped off and fell.

Isaac could barely hear Maverick, who seemed to be talking to himself. But after a short while, Maverick tossed over the edge of the balcony what looked like the portable radios all of the pokemon who had been involved with this 'Mewtwo' guy seemed to carry around.

Isaac listened close, waiting for the sound of Maverick leaving to go look somewhere else. Isaac could feel himself slipping, he knew he could fall at any time now.

Eventually Maverick turned around, and ran down the hall back through the door they had both come through. Isaac immediately pulled himself back up, and sat on the ground for a moment so he could recover from holding himself up like that for so long.

Isaac never expected what happened next. The door that had closed practically in his face, forcing him to hang off the ledge in the first place, clicked again, then slowly opened by itself.

_Could this be another trap? Or maybe a malfunction? Doesn't matter, I can't go back the way I came. I might run into Maverick again and I can't hide with all the lights on like this._

He stood up, then ran through the now opened door and down the new hall.

---

Back in the room with monitors, Crimson watched with frustration as all of the monitors that _should_be showing images from security cameras, had nothing on them except black and white static.

"KKRRRRSSHHHH... Before it closed... Open." It was Crimsons Radio, which seemed to be having the same problems as the security cameras.

"Maverick? Is that you?" She said into it.

"Open it back... KRRRRSSSHHH"

"Maverick, speak up I can't hear you!"

"Ugh... KRRSSHH... Busted... SSSSSSSSS... Hear me?... KRSSSH" After that, the radio went complete silent.

Crimson shook her head with both confusion and growing annoyance at the entire situation. "First he wants it closed to catch up with that vermin we captured earlier, and now he wants it open? Why cant that idiot just make up his mine?" She walked over to a large console with buttons that control every electronic door in the factory. Unfortunately, several of the buttons did not work, including the one that controlled the main entrance. This meant that if either the prisoner or the intruder got to that entrance, they could leave easily.

Seeing no point in staying here, Crimson ran down the hallway towards the section of the factory where the main entrance was, hoping neither of the pokemon they needed to capture had escaped yet.

—

Isaac was getting tired of running around the factory halls, looking for a way to escape. Every door he thought would lead him outside ended up being locked, and even a vent shaft that he had crawled through, desperately trying to escape, ended up being a dead end thanks to some heavy metal bars.

He now wandered the large room with the Infinity Stones being transported to different places via conveyor belts, looking around for a door to the outside.

He didn't want to stay in this room for long, because it would be easy for anyone looking for him to see him walking around.

Just when he was about to give up and look somewhere else for a way out of this factory, he spotted a door at the far end of the room. As he walked towards it he couldn't believe that he saw it was open slightly, and through the narrow crack, was what looked like sunlight shining in. Excited, Isaac sprinted towards the door, happy about finally finding an escape route.

Just as Isaac was nearing the door, from out of nowhere, Maverick jumped down from above and landing right in front of the door.

"Hold it right there, you're not going anywhere, not today." Maverick let out a loud laugh. "You did a good job avoiding me, but it looks like that was for nothing. I'm gonna have a lot of fun beating you."

Isaac had no other choice, the only was he was going to escape was by fighting against Maverick, despite the odds being greatly out of his favor.

"I'm leaving this place." Said Isaac. "And there's no way you're gonna stop me."

He placed the book he had taken on the ground, then stood there, ready for whatever attack Maverick would first unleash.


	38. Narrow Escape

Chapter 38: Narrow Escape

Maverick and Isaac stood each others ground, each staring at their opponent, waiting for one to make the first move.

Isaac didn't know what he was going to do, Maverick was so much more powerful then him. Isaacs small size would make any physical attacks useless, and he highly doubted using a bubble attack on a superior water type would do much good either.

Isaac thought his best bet was to try an attack he rarely got the chance to use, Peck.

He leapt forward, aiming for Mavericks face so he could do a maximum amount of damage. Maverick seemed to be caught off guard and didn't try to dodge Isaacs attack. When Isaac reached his target, he thrust his head forward, striking Maverick square in the forehead.

The attack did nothing, Isaac felt like he had just pecked a very sturdy brick wall.

Maverick swatted Isaac away as if he was nothing more then an annoying bug pokemon. Isaac flew up high, and came crashing down on a pile of empty cardboard boxes. Isaac quickly recovered, but was sent flying again when Maverick shot him with an unbelievably powerful Bubblebeam attack.

Each individual bubble felt like it was a very wet boulder, each one nearly crushing Isaac. This time Isaac had a hard time getting up after Mavericks attack.

_I can't win... Mavericks far too powerful._

Maverick began to run towards Isaac, the claw like tips of his wings glowing white. He was going to try to hit Isaac with a very powerful Metal Claw attack. Isaac leapt forward, right over Mavericks head. Maverick tried to slash at Isaac in mid-air but missed.

Isaac, taking advantage of Mavericks turned back, fired out multiple Bubble attacks. Each one harmlessly popped on Mavericks back.

Maverick turned around and laughed at Isaac. "Pathetic." He ran at Isaac again, this time his claws glowing a dark purple, Shadow Claw. Isaac decided to try to avoid Maverick again by jumping over him as he ran forward, but as Isaac was in the air, Maverick slashed upwards, hitting Isaac and sending him flying straight into the air.

As Isaac dropped back down, Maverick fired a Bubblebeam into the air, hitting Isaac as he came down, and finished the attack by slashing Isaac again with Metal Claw, which sent Isaac flying across the factory and crashing into on of the machines that controlled the conveyer belts.

Suddenly, some kind of intercom came on. "Self Destruction activated, time until destruction, five minutes." It announced loudly. Maverick walked over to where Isaac had landed, but before he could do anything, the intercom came to life again. "Did you hear that Maverick!? You need to escape right now! That intruder must have activated the self destruction somehow! Hurry!"

Maverick seemed to be ignoring the message to him. He lifted up one of his giant feet and brought it down hard on Isaac, and began to press down on him, crushing Isaac. Isaac tried to push Maverick off of him, but Maverick was far too strong. Isaac opened his beak and bit down hard on Mavericks foot, causing Maverick to back away and yell in pain.

Isaac was now sure that there was no way he was going to defeat Maverick, Isaac simply jumped up on one of the conveyor belts and ran down it to escape. Maverick ran along side the belt and soon caught up with Isaac, and pulled him off of the belt and pinned him down.

"You're not getting away Isaac. I've had enough of chasing you around." Maverick pressed down on Isaac neck, choking him. Isaac tried to breath but he couldn't, and he couldn't get away either, Maverick had Isaac right where he wanted him and there was nothing Isaac could do.

"I killed our father, our entire clan, all I need to do is kill you and my entire past is erased."

"Time until destruction, four minutes."

Isaac used his one free hand to feel around, hoping to find something, anything, he could use to save himself before Maverick finally squeezed the last bit of life out of him. Isaac reached above and, and finally grasped onto something, it felt like a rock of some kind. Isaac wondered what a rock was doing in a factory, until he realized that it wasn't any normal rock he had just grabbed.

Isaacs entire body glowed brightly, the light nearly blinding Maverick, causing him to stop pressing down on Isaacs neck. Isaac grew in size, and with a newfound strength, pushed Maverick off of him, sending him crashing against another machine that controlled the conveyor belts.

Maverick looked up at Isaac, wondering how on earth he could have overpowered him. Isaac was no longer the Piplup he was at the beginning of the battle, he was now a much more powerful Prinplup pokemon

"Time until destruction, three minutes."

"I'm glad you're tired of chasing me around, Maverick." Said Isaac, his voice almost the same, only slightly deeper. "Because I'm tired of being chased. You wanna finish this? Then lets finish this."

Maverick laughed a strange, almost insane sounding laugh. "You think evolving is going to give you any chance of beating me? You will never beat me Isaac, I'll kill you no matter how much stronger you get!"

"Well then, come get me, times ticking."

Maverick got up and immediately sprinted towards Isaac, his wing-tip claws glowing a dark purple color again. Isaac leapt towards Maverick, but not to dodge like before, he jumped right for Mavericks head and pecked him square in the forehead multiple times like he had tried at the beginning of the battle.

This time, his attack worked, and Maverick cried out in pain because of it and fell back. Isaac wasn't done though, he stood on top of Maverick and fired a much more powerful bubble attack straight down at Mavericks head.

The roles of the battle had turned. It was now Isaac who had the advantage, and it was Maverick who was getting knocked around.

"Time until destruction, two minutes."

Isaac just realized that he now had nothing standing in his was to freedom. Isaac left Maverick without a word and dashed towards the exit. The battle had caused both he and Maverick to move far from the door, so Isaac ran as fast as he could so he could get far enough away from the building before it exploded.

Half way there, Isaac saw another pokemon run towards the exit, it was that Weavile, Crimson. Isaac kept running, hoping he would make it before her, but she had an advantage with both speed and distance from the door. She made it first, and closed the door. Isaac ran all the way until he reached the door as well and tried to push it open, but Crimson must have blocked the door somehow, Isaac couldn't get it open.

"Not good, not good, not good!" Isaac said to himself, pushing the door with all his might. Isaac kept trying to push it open until he heard the sound of Maverick running at him. Isaac didn't have time to dodge, so he crossed his arms in front of him and braced himself for whatever attack was coming.

Maverick charged right into Isaac, and Isaac was barely able to hold his ground. Isaac and Maverick pushed against each other, both trying to overpower their respective opponent.

"Time until destruction, one minute."

"Maverick!" Isaac yelled as he continued to struggle against Maverick. "We've got to stop! This place is going to explode!"

"I don't care, as long as you die with me, I don't care."

"Time until destruction, forty five seconds."

"Maverick, stop, you don't want this and neither do I! Just help me find a way out and we can finish this some other time."

"I'll finish it now, thank you very much!"

"Time until destruction, thirty seconds."

_I gotta think fast._ Isaac looked behind him, and saw that his back was positioned to the door. _That might work... I sure hope Mavericks heavy enough._

"Well, that's just too bad Maverick, I don't plan on dying any time soon." Isaac grabbed Maverick and pushed him towards the door. Maverick wasn't able to stop himself and crashed into it. The door gave way and swung open, giving Isaac the escape route he was trying to find for so long.

Before he forgot, Isaac went back and picked up the book he had taken earlier, and ran towards the exit. Isaac jumped over Maverick, who was probably stunned momentarily by the collision, and he landed on the sandy ground that was the outside. He was finally free.

He took two steps away from the factory, but then stopped and looked back. Maverick wasn't moving at all. _Is he unconscious?_ Thought Isaac.

"Time until destruction, ten seconds."

Isaac didn't like it, but there was no way he could just leave Maverick lying on the ground, about to get buried underneath a blown up building. Isaac ran as fast as he could over to Mavericks body and began to drag him away.

"Nine, eight, seven, six..."

_Come on, come on, come on!_

"Five, four, three, two, one... Self Destruction activated."

Isaac ducked down to the ground and covered his face and ears. The explosion was much more spectacular then Isaac had imagined, fire shot out of the door they had just escaped, just barely stopping short of where Isaac managed to drag Maverick too. The walls began to buckle and soon the entire building just fell over, leaving nothing fire and rubble.

Relieved he managed to escape so narrowly, Isaac let out a very loud sigh.

He looked at Maverick, and saw that he was still out like a light. He wasn't going to cause Isaac any trouble any time soon.

Isaac saw that Maverick had a small pouch around his ankle, Isaac carefully removed it and looked inside. Based on the amount of empty space in the pouch, Isaac figure this was where Maverick kept the radio he was carrying around. The only thing that was left inside was a small, folded piece of paper. When Isaac opened it, Isaac was happy to find the paper was actually a miniature map, which had a small red dot and the scribbled words "That Infinity Stone Factory." Isaac studied the map to find where he was, and according to it, Isaac was about a three hour walk (half if he ran the whole way) south east from where he wanted to go, Sunset Spire. He could easily find it and reach it by using the sun to determine the direction he was going.

Isaac didn't want to, but he knew his only choice if he wanted to catch up to his friends before they fell into Mewtwos trap was to leave Maverick. Isaac wasn't about to just finish him off like this, and he definitely had no time to bring him to the Brotherhood Headquarters so he could be properly punished.

Isaac crumpled up the tiny map, and threw it away, then, after looking at Mavericks unconscious body one last time, ran towards Sunset Spire. Hoping to reach it before his friends could.

—

A few hours earlier, at the Brotherhood Headquarters, Team Valiant was just leaving Havok City.

"Ok, Rita, which way do we go?" Said Lloyd.

Rita pulled her map out of one of the bags and looked at it. "Says that the Sunset Spire is a mystery dungeon to the north, about a days walk" She closed the map. "Lloyd, what are we going to do if Isaac gets there before us? He could get himself killed!"

"That's why we have to go now." Said Jennifer. "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to Isaac..."

"Don't worry everyone, I'm sure everything will be fine. If Isaac makes it there before us, then we'll just have to go up and help him."

"What about those other two pokemon." Asked Sakura. "Didn't the note say he would kill them both if we tried to interfere?"

"I'm sure if Isaac gets up there before us, Maverick will be too busy with Isaac to be on look out for us."

"I guess you're right about that." Said Sakura.

"Listen guys, were wasting time just standing around, lets just go. Isaac is walking into a trap as we speak, lets not let him spring it."

Everyone nodded, and followed Lloyd as he lead the way across the wasteland towards the Sunset Spire.


	39. Sunset Spire

Here is an edited version of Chapter 39, with slight changes, and added things that the old notepad version took out, making it hard to read.

Chapter 40 is being worked on right now, and should be out soon.

Sorry for the wait everyone.

Chapter 39: Sunset Spire

"Where is Isaac?" Asked Jennifer. "Why haven t we caught up with him yet?"

"Jennifer, I ve said this like three times already..." Rita told Jennifer as they walked through the Wasteland. "We don t know. He might have taken a different path for all we know."

"I wish he had waited for me at least, so I could have talked to him about it."

"We know Jennifer." Said Lloyd. "Lets just keep moving for now."

The wasteland was fairly cool thanks to the rain from last night, but it also made the typically dry, sandy ground very muddy. The trip to Sunset Spire would definitely take them much longer then expected because of it.

The sound of rumbling filled the air, it sounded like thunder off in the distance.

"I think it might rain again." Said Lloyd, who looked in the direction of the booming sounds. He saw a massive cluster of dark grey clouds being blown in their direction by the wind.

"That s the last thing we need." Rita moaned as she looked at the same cloud formation Lloyd was looking at. "That ll just slow us down even more. The muds already all thick and..."

"Actually..." Interrupted Regal, who fluttered overhead with the baby Plusle in his arms. "We re at the Spire already, I can see if from up here and its just over the next hill!"

"Can you see Isaac anywhere?" Asked Lloyd.

"No. I don t see Isaac anywhere around the Spire, and I can t see the top of it from here."

Lloyd sighed loudly. "So this means he either took a different path to the Spire, and hasn't arrived yet, or we didn't catch up to him and he's already inside."

"What should we do now then, Lloyd?" Asked Jennifer, who looked and sounded very worried about Isaac.

Lloyd waved to Regal, signaling for him to come down. "Let me hold Plusle." He asked. Regal listened and passed him Plusle, who was now sleeping quietly. "I want you to fly as high as you can and see if you can get a good view of the top of Sunset Spire, then come back and tell us what you saw." Lloyd told Regal.

"Right away, I'll be back as soon as I can." Regal took flight and flew towards the top of the Spire.

Plusle woke up a moment later. It reached up at Lloyd cheeks, but couldn't quite reach them.

"What? Again?" Lloyd asked her. Plusle had already shocked itself five times during their trip to Sunset Spire, what was enough electricity to knock out all but the most hardy of pokemon seemed to be nothing but a light snack to this tiny little pokemon.

Lloyd lifted Plusle near his face and she immediately grabbed Lloyds cheeks, causing much of the electricity stored in Lloyd to unleash itself into Plusle.

Suddenly, Lloyd felt very strange, he felt tired, and his vision was going blurry. He closed his eyes tight and rubbed them, hoping that would make his eyesight be clear again.

"Is something wrong?" Asked Rita, who noticed Lloyd rubbing his eye.

"I felt kind of strange after Plusle shocked itself, my visions all fuzzy and I felt like I just woke up from bed..."

"Perhaps you're using too much electricity or something?" Suggested Sakura. "I don't know anything about electric types, but I know when I breath out too much fire, I get all tired and weird like that too."

"Maybe..."

"Just hold off on, er, feeding Plusle for awhile. At least until after we get Isaac and start going back to the Headquarters."

"Right... Good idea Sakura." Said Lloyd with a smile. "If we do end up having to go inside that place, it would be best if I kept myself in good health."

"We should all probably sit a rest while we wait for Regal to get back." Said Rita. "There's a dry spot over here where we can all sit down."

"Good idea."

The sky rumbled again, this time it sounded closer. It wouldn't be long before it started to rain again.

---

Time went by, and it wasn't long before Lloyd spotted Regalflying back down to meet with the team.

"See anything?" Lloyd asked as soon as Regal had landed.

"Yes, I saw Isaac up there, as well as two cages with the missing pokemon in them." Odd thing was, Isaac wasn't doing anything, just sitting around and waiting. I wanted to go ask him but it started to get really windy up in the air and I had to fly back down."

"Maybe he's just resting?" Suggested Rita. "Huh... I guess Isaac really didn't need us to come save him after all."

"Yeah..." Said Lloyd. "But we should still get up there and see if he needs help." Lloyd picked up one of the supply bags and slung it over his shoulder. "Are you all ready to go?"

Everyone nodded, and stood up off of the dry patch of dirt.

"Then lets be careful, and stick together!"

They all got up and went towards the Sunset Spire, when they got to it they walked around it until they found a fairly large sized door which lead inside. Standing at the door, Lloyd looked straight up, and got a good idea of how big the spire was. He figured it was at least twenty or more floors until they reached the roof.

With Lloyd leading the way, everyone walked inside the entrance to Sunset Spire.

---

The inside of the spire was nothing anyone expected. From the outside, Sunset Spire looked nothing more then a tall, naturally formed stone pillar. The inside, however, looked like some kind of old temple or something, the kind of place an archeologist would just die for.

The walls and ceilings were all completely smooth, with the floor being made of a black stone tile that didn't match the stone of the Spire. There were three hallways in the first room they had entered. Along the walls there were small statues of various pokemon, placed on top of white stone pedestals that also didn't match the orange stone of the Spire.

"This place kinda looks like the place I found you, Lloyd." Said Rita. "Except this place is less of a dump."

Lloyd nodded, still looking around. "Ok guys, lets be careful, this place is a mystery dungeon like any other, so expect to see some wild pokemon here." Lloyd was trying to keep everyone focused on why they were here in the first place. "Lets hurry to the top, we need to see if we can help Isaac in any way."

"Lead the way then." Said Sakura.

Lloyd stood in the middle of the room and looked down each of the three corridors. All three of them looked exactly the same.

Since there seemed to be no way to determine the right direction, Lloyd randomly picked the hallway. He reached out and pointed to the path that was to the right of the door they came in. "Lets start with this one." He said, still pointing. He started walking down the hall, with everyone close behind him.

Half way down the corridor, Lloyd heard a soft click sound below him, and felt the ground sick an inch downwards. When he looked down, it looked like he had stepped on some kind of switch.

Before anyone had realized what had happened, a big, metal gate came crashing down in the middle of their group. Everyone barely managed to dive out of the way to avoid being crushed.

Lloyd looked around to see if anyone was hurt, and was relieved to see that everyone managed to avoid the gate crashing down on them, but he saw that the gate had separated Jennifer from the rest of the group.

Jennifer was on the side of the large, metal gate that lead back to the door they came in, and it looked like there was no way of getting her through. The door was obviously too heavy for everyone to lift, it looked very sturdy and the bars of gate were far to tightly spaced for Jennifer to just squeeze through.

"Lloyd!" She yelled to him. "What should I do?"

Lloyd thought for a second. "You ll have to go back outside Jennifer, its too dangerous for you to be wandering alone in here."

"But... What about Isaac?"

"We'll get Isaac, don t worry. I'm sure the last thing he wants is you getting yourself hurt, or worse, wandering around here trying to find him."

Jennifer looked disappointed, but she nodded and said, "Alright then, good luck everyone." and then made her way back outside to wait.

"Alright everyone..." Said Lloyd. "Lets watch our step for more traps, I don t anyone else getting separated... or anything worse."

---

Jennifer sat outside, sitting on a rock that was near the door to Sunset Spire. She sighed aloud, looked up towards the top of the spire.

"Oh Isaac..." She said to herself. "Why did you have to go alone..."

Just then it started to drizzle rain, and the sky above began to rumble with stored up energy. Jennifer sighed even louder as the light rain began to soak her.

She looked around as she sat on top of the rock. She thought see saw something on the horizon coming towards her. Jennifer looked at the thing and saw it was a big, blue pokemon, but from this distance she couldn't tell what exactly it was.

_Too big to be Isaac_. She thought_. But Isaac wouldn't be down here anyways... Who's that pokemon? _The figure got closer, and Jennifer could finally tell what she was looking at. The pokemon looked like a Prinplup.

_A Prinplup? Wait a sec... That Maverick pokemon Isaac told me about is a Prinplup! But what would he be doing down here? _She jumped off the rock and hid behind it, hopping it wasn't really Maverick.

The Prinplup stopped right outside the Spire, and right beside the rock Jennifer was hiding behind. _Maybe he was waiting for everyone to get inside and then ambush them from behind or something? _She thought to herself. _This isn t good..._

She looked out for a moment, and saw the Prinplup turn towards her. She fled back into hiding immediatly, he heart beating fast as she began to panic.

_Oh no... Does he know I m here? Did he see me?! _

"Hello?" The Prinplup called out.

At first, Jennifer was scarred, because she knew now that the Prinplup must have seen her before she could hide herself. But then, something about this pokemons voice sounded kind of familiar.

"Anyone there? I saw someone! Come out!"

Jennifer heard footsteps coming towards her. She tried to stay as quiet as she could, barely even breathing.

The Prinplup walked over to the rock and looked over it, staring at Jennifer from above. Jennifer let out a small yelp of surprise. "Oh no." She said out loud.

"Jennifer? Is that you?"

Jennifer couldn't believe it at first, but up close she could recognize the voice that spoke to her that had belonged to the Prinplup. It was a little deeper then before, but it was unmistakable whos voice it was.

"I... Isaac? Is that you?"

"Er, what are you doing hiding behind a rock?"

Instead of just answering, she stood up and leapt at him, hugging him around the neck, smiling. Oh Isaac! I was so worried! I m so happy to see you!

Isaac let out a small laugh. "I figured as much. Where is everyone else? Are you waiting for them or something?"

"They re already inside, going to go up and... Oh."

"Oh? Oh what?"

Jennifer's smile faded, and was replaced with a very worried face. "They're going up to look for you. Regal flew up and saw a Piplup, who he assumed was you, and now everyone is going up to help you."

"Listen, Jennifer. Said Isaac. This trap, the one that you all think is set for me by Maverick... it wasn't meant for me."

"What do you mean?"

This trap is meant for Lloyd. And I bet that the Piplup up there is just a fake to bait everyone to the top."

Jennifer gasped. "Oh no! We ve got to go and tell them!"

How far are they inside? Do you know?

"Not far, but a trap was set off that separated us, so we can t follow them the same way they went."

"Alright... Lets hurry then, come on."

Isaac and Jennifer both went inside the Sunset Spire. Both of them hoped that they could find Lloyd and the rest of the team before it was too late.

---

Already on the fourth floor, Lloyd, Rita and Sakura fought their seventh wild pokemon since coming to the spire, a fire type known as Slugma.

So far, all of the pokemon they had fought were fire types, which, thanks to the fact their group was composed of a grass type and another fire type, meant they would be at an extreme disadvantage here. Many of Sakuras attacks would be nearly useless, and Rita would be seriously hurt if she was hit by any of their fire type attacks.

Lloyd unleashed a charged up Thunderbolt at the Slugma. The thing wasn't very fast, so the attack easily hit it. Slugma slumped down to the ground, everyone figured that it had been knocked out by Lloyds attack.

"Isn't this just great." Said Rita, who was already getting tired from the battles. "A mystery dungeon full of fire type pokemon, and our only teammate who can fight these guys effectively is the same guy were trying to find."

"Here comes another one." Said Sakura, who was looking down a nearby corridor. "Don't worry, its just a Zubat this time."

The Zubat in question flew into the room and squeaked loudly. It immediately dove for Sakura, who was closest to it. Sakura shot out an ember attack at it, and knocked it out of the air. Her attack seemed to have knocked it out, the little bat pokemon didn't get back up after it hit the ground.

"Well at least not ALL of the pokemon here are fire types." Said Sakura.

"Zubats are in almost every mystery dungeon though Sakura." Pointed out Rita. "I thought you of all pokemon would know that."

"I did I just... Wanted to point it out to Lloyd is all."

"Come on you three." Said Lloyd. "We should hurry."

"Right." Said both Rita and Sakura.

"Right behind you, Lloyd." Said Regal.

---

Isaac and Jennifer were already on the third floor after only ten minutes of exploring the spire. So far, neither were attacked by any of wild pokemon.

"Isaac. While were walking, do you mind if I ask you something?"

"Not at all, what is it you wanted to ask?"

"Well I...."

But Jennifer was suddenly interrupted by Isaac, who shot out a huge stream of bubbles down the hallway. She looked in the direction Isaac had attacked and saw a Ponyta only a few feet away from where Isaac and Jennifer were. The Ponyta, looking enraged by the attack, charged at them, closing the distance fast.

Jennifer leapt forward at the Ponta, and kicked it multiple times right squarely in the head. The wild Ponyta, mid-gallop, crashed to the ground. Jennifer on the other hand, landed gracefully next to the now unconscious wild pokemon.

"Great job Jennifer, I almost forgot how good at fighting you were."

"You're pretty good yourself, Isaac. I ve never seen such a powerful Bubble attack before! I m surprised that Ponyta was still standing afterwards!"

They both continued walking down the hall, stepping over the now unconscious Ponta.

"So, what was it you were saying?"

Jennifer had almost forgotten what she wanted to talk about. "Oh yeah! Um... This is kind of embarrassing now that I think about it."

Isaac stopped and turned to look at her. "You know you don t need to be embarrassed around me. Please, ask me what it is you wanted to ask."

"Well..."

But once again she was interrupted by the wild pokemon that lived in the spire. A wild Zubat flew straight at Isaac, only to get itself knocked out of the air with one of his Bubble attacks.

"You know what." Started Isaac. "I think we should probably wait until we get out of here. Unfortunately, these wild pokemon seem to lack any manners."

Jennifer laughed. "Yeah, alright. Lloyd and the others should be our top priority anyways."

---

An hour went by, and both Isaac and Jennifer, and Lloyd, Rita, Regal and Sakura slowly made their way up the Sunset Spire. Lloyd, Rita, Regal and Sakura, who were nearly exhausted from the number of fights they had fought, arrived at top most floor of the spire.

It was simple compared to the others, it was composed of only a single, very large room. What was strange was the fact that this very large room was also very empty. What looked like what could have been the lair to some giant wild pokemon was without even the smallest of wild pokemon.

"Weird..." Whispered Lloyd. "What do you think this room is for?"

"I heard a rumor that Sunset Spire used to be the home of a legendary pokemon a very long time ago, way back before the humans were wiped out." Explained Sakura. "Maybe this was where it lived? It's certainly big enough."

"Hey, look over there!" Rita said, running towards what looked like a large stairway. Everyone followed her and saw that the stairway went outside, to the top of the Spire where Isaac was. "Wow, what a huge staircase. I bet this is how whatever lived here got in and out of here."

"Lets get up there then." Said Lloyd, who was already on his way up.

Everyone followed Lloyd up the massive staircase, all standing side by side. Except for Regal, who flew overtop of everyone, still carrying the baby Plusle.

"Wait guys, stop. Said Lloyd, everyone did so right away, but looked confused as to why they had to stop. "Did you hear that?"

Nobody said anything.

Lloyd turned around and faced back in the direction the four of them had just come from. "I could have sworn I heard something."

Lloyd was about to turn back and continue up the stairs, thinking that the sound was just something he imagined. But suddenly, another metal gate came down from above, just like the one that had separated the Jennifer from the rest of the team back on the first floor. The gate hadn't separated any of the team, like the first, but now they had no way of getting back.

"Great!" Said Rita. "How are we going to get back down now?"

Lloyd looked for any opening, and found that the very top part of the gate had much wider spaced bars then the rest of the gate. Wide enough for a pokemon to actually fit through.

"Regal, see the openings in the bars way up there?"

Regal squinted his eyes and looked straight at the spot Lloyd was referring. "Yes, I see it."

"Do you think you could fly through there and look for a way to open the door, a switch or something, while we go get Isaac?"

"You can count on me." Said Regal. He took off, flew up towards the openings at the top of the gate, and slipped through. "Be careful you three!" He yelled from the opposite side.

"Come on, lets go." Lloyd said to Rita and Sakura as he continued to climb the steps.

---

Not a moment after Lloyd, Rita and Sakura continued to climb up the steps towards the top of the spire, Isaac and Jennifer spotted Regal, who was flying around with the baby Plusle, looking at the wall around a large stairway. It looked like he was searching the walls for something.

Isaac and Jennifer ran over to him. Regal turned around and when he saw Isaac he jumped, looking startled. But when he saw that Jennifer was with Isaac, Regal looked confused.

"Wait a sec, yo' re not Maverick are you?" Asked Regal.

"No, Its me, Isaac." He stated simply.

"Yep, he found me at the entrance of this place and we came up here to catch up to you guys." Explained Jennifer.

"So you evolved too huh?" Said Regal. "Congratulations! But wait... I saw you on top of this place earlier... And you weren't evolved."

"You saw me?"

Well... I thought it was you. I couldn't really imagine any other Piplup having a reason to be up there.

"This isn't good!" yelled Jennifer. "Lloyd and the others are walking into a trap and we can t stop them with this giant metal gate here!"

"Trap?" Asked Regal. "What trap?"

"The pokemon that has been hunting Lloyd, Mewtwo, he set this trap up for Lloyd. He knew that he would come try to save me from coming here alone, so he had me captured right outside Havok City." Isaac shook the bars of the massive metal gate. "Argh, were so close! Regal, have you found any way to open this thing yet?"

"No, unfortunately. And I m not even sure there's any way for us to open it."

"There's got to be a way." Said Jennifer. "Lets all look together, we gotta get to Lloyd and the others in case they need our help!"

The three of them all split up and began to search the entire room to look for a switch or button that would open the gate.

---

It was pouring rain when Lloyd, Rita and Sakura reached the top of the steps. Even though it was the middle of the afternoon, the thunder clouds and rain made everything dark as it would look in the middle of the night.

Everyone looked around the large, circular pad that was the top of Sunset Spire, and found that Isaac was nowhere in sight. The two pokemon that had been kidnaped were gone as well, the doors of the two cages that must have held them were wide open and neither of then were anywhere to be seen either.

"Where is he? Where did he go?" Asked Sakura.

Lloyd looked around, but there was definitely nobody up here other then the three of them. "He must have..."

"Wait..." Sakura interrupted "I think I see something. Over there!"

Lloyd looked off into the distance, and eventually he saw something too. It was big, and orange, but he couldn't really tell what exactly it was.

"There's something over there too, and its coming this way!" Rita was looking into the opposite direction when she said this.

Lloyd turned in the opposite direction, and looked in the direction Rita pointed too. Once again, he saw something as well, this time it was smaller, and more of a brown color.

When the two flying figures got closer, Lloyd saw what they were. The first, the thing Sakura had pointed out, was a Charizard, the second, the thing Rita had pointed out, was a Fearow.

"Oh no." Said Lloyd, a hint of panic in his voice. "We need to get out of here."

But when they tried to turn to head back down the stairs, yet another metal gate closed in their faces, blocking any possible escape from the roof.

Lloyd, Rita and Sakura were trapped, with at least two dangerous pokemon on their way to capture Lloyd.


	40. Illusion

Chapter 40: Illusion

"I found something!" Jennifer yelled from across the room. "I think this might open the gate!"

Both Isaac and Regal rushed towards Jennifer. She stood next to what, at first glance, looked like a perfectly normal wall. Once Isaac and Regal closely inspected the wall though, they saw small, straight cracks that separated a square section of the wall.

"I think if we all push up against it..." Explained Jennifer. "It'll move and activate a switch that'll open the gate, just like the switch Lloyd stepped on that separated me from the others."

"It could just be another trap." Said Isaac. "But we don't have much of a choice."

Jennifer and Isaac went up to the wall switch, joined soon after by Regal, who had to gently put down Plusle, and began to push their combined weight against it.

At first, the switch didn't budge, but eventually, the large, square section of the wall began to move.

"It's working!" Regal said excitedly.

"Keep pushing!" Yelled Isaac.

---

"Push! We can do it! Keep pushing!"

On top of the spire, Lloyd, Rita and Sakura were attempting to escape the incoming pokemon that had lured them here by pushing the gate that kept them trapped up enough to slip under. Unfortunately, despite their combined effort, the gate wouldn't budge an inch.

"It's hopeless..." Said Rita, exhausted from the escape attempt. "We're trapped up here. There's no way the three of us are going to move that thing."

Lloyd didn't want to admit it, but she was right. He let go of the metal bars, and backed away.

"Looks like we'll have to fight." Said Sakura.

Lloyd opened the supply bag and took out three Oran Berrys. He passed them out to both Rita and Sakura, keeping one for himself. "Eat these, if were gonna fight, we need all the strength we can get." They nodded, and ate the berries quickly.

Zar, the Charizard who had pursued Lloyd since the beginning, finally landed on the Spires circular roof.

A moment later, the Fearow that flew in from the opposite direction, landed beside Zar, looking exhausted.

"Uhh... I hate having to fly... so... tired..." Lloyd guessed that this Lancet, since Fearow was the same pokemon he transformed into to escape the Brotherhood Headquarters.

"Get up..." Said Zar. "You look ridiculous."

"Listen Zar, YOU might be used to flying, having wings and all, but I've been a stupid little Squirtle for months now!"

"Lloyd." Rita's whisper had startle Lloyd slightly. "Why don't we attack now? While they're distracted?"

"Good idea. Tell Sakura to get ready."

Lloyd built up the electricity in his body, ready to unleash it at the Zar and Lancet.

"When I count to three..." Whisper Lloyd. "I want you both to attack with me."

Both Rita and Sakura nodded.

"One... Two..."

Zar and Lancet continued to argue more and more, not even noticing the trio preparing a surprise attack.

"Three!" Lloyd yelled. At the same time, Lloyd unleashed a powerful Thunderbolt attack, Sakura shot out a dozen tiny flames with Ember, and Rita tossed multiple Razor Leaf attacks.

The attacks all went towards Zar and Lancet, who still were ignoring everyone in favor of their agreement, but when the attacks reached them, everything went right through them like they weren't even there. For a moment, they continued to argue as if nothing had happened, then suddenly, the both of them faded, and eventually disappeared, like a pair of ghosts.

"... What just happened?" Asked Rita.

"They disappeared." Replied Sakura.

"... I know that. Why did they just disappear like that?"

Sakura shrugged.

"This is so weird, it's like they... hey wait." Rita was interrupted when suddenly, she seemed to get lighter, and as if gravity had turned itself off, she began to float in mid-air. "Whoa! What the heck is going on now!?"

Lloyd, and then Sakura, began to rise as well, floating a few inches off the ground like Rita, no control over what was happening.

"Someone must be controlling us with a psychic attack!" Sakura said while flailing her legs in mid-air, fruitlessly trying to land back down. "Whoever is doing this probably created those illusions of those other two guys!"

Lloyd felt sick to his stomach, it was the same motion sickness he got from using the Headquarters elevator. "Just stay calm everyone." He managed to say.

From somewhere below them, over the side of the spire, they heard someone speaking.

"You've done quite a good job of keeping away from me Lloyd..."

Lloyd recognized the voice from one of his dreams with Shadow. Lloyd figured that it was Mewtwo himself who had set and sprung the trap to capture him.

Mewtwo appeared, using psychic powers to levitate his body up from over the edge of spire.

"Who are you?" Asked Rita. "What do you want with us?!"

"It's not you or your little vulpix friend I want, only Lloyd. Why is none of your business."

"Let them go Mewtwo!" Pleaded Lloyd, thinking only of the safety of his friends. "If its only me you want, leave them and take me."

"Actually... I think your friends will make good insurance in case you try to escape." He laughed. "I will take you all, and if Lloyd escapes, its you, his friends, who will suffer the consequences."

Before anyone could say anything in protest, everyone, including their captor, began to fade away just like the illusions. Soon everyone disappeared, leaving the roof of Sunset Spire void of any pokemon.

Mewtwo, using his psychic abilities, teleported himself, and his three prisoners, to an unknown location.

---

The huge, stone switch that Isaac, Jennifer and Regal had been pushing had finally been activated. It stopped moving, and a loud 'click' sound could be heard behind it.

Not a moment later, the gate slowly began to rise, allowing everyone to climb the steps to follow Lloyd and the others.

"Come on everyone! Hurry!" Isaac yelled as he ran towards, then up, the stairway. Jennifer and Regal both followed as quickly as they could.

---

The storm was worse then ever, everyone had to shield their faces from the wind and the rain to be able to see.

"Where are they?!" Jennifer yelled at the top of her lungs, barely louder the storm. "I can't see anyone!"

"They're not here!" Said Regal. "Nobodies here!"

Something was obviously wrong, there was no way off of the top of the spire without jumping or flying off, or going back the way they came up, which was impossible because of the metal gate that had separated everyone in the first place.

"Come on, lets get back inside!" Yelled Isaac. "They're not up here!"

Reluctantly, Regal and Jennifer followed Isaac back down the stairway, and out of the rain.

"Where could they be?" Asked Regal. "This doesn't make any sense..."

"Isaac, what if they fell off the edge or something!" Jennifer said. "

"We don't have any Escape Orbs, so we'll have to take the long way down." Said Isaac. "It's the only way we can get down to make sure."

"Wait a second." Said Jennifer, suddenly calmer then she was before. "Why don't we just jump down?"

Isaac looked at her as if she was completely insane. "Are you crazy? The fall would kill us!"

"You maybe, if you just jumped down. I would be able to land safely, no problem, and Regal could just fly down."

"And what about me?" Asked Isaac.

"Just trust me, you'll be fine."

---

Isaac found himself standing at the edge of Sunset Spires roof, unable to believe what he was about to do.

Jennifer's plan to get down as soon as possible had worked so far. As she had explained earlier, Regal got down by flying down, staying close to the spire in case the wind picked up, and Jennifer simply jumped down, landing safely as if she had jumped no more then a couple of feet.

It was the second part of her plan that bothered Isaac.

Just as she was about to jump, she had told Isaac that he had to jump, and she would catch him as he fell. Isaac wasn't able to protest to her, as Jennifer had jumped the moment her explanation had finished.

"This is crazy..." Isaac muttered to himself. "There is no way..."

Jennifer looked like she was yelling something, but the storm was far to loud for Isaac to hear her from so far away.

_Looks like I have no other choice._

Isaac got as close to the ledge as he could.

_Alright... three... two..._

He took a deep breath, hoping it would calm him. As he inhaled a lung full of air, the direction of the wind suddenly changed, going in the direction he was facing. He was so close to the ledge that he wasn't able to avoid being blown off the roof.

Isaac fell forward towards Jennifer and Regal, and yelled at the top of his lungs as he dropped towards the ground.

When Isaac was about half way down, Jennifer jumped straight up, towards Isaac.

Jennifer grabbed Isaac in mid-air, and the both of them fell together. Jennifer landed on the ground perfectly, without injuring either herself or Isaac, who was still yelling despite reaching the ground safely.

"Isaac, you're fine."

Isaac stopped yelling, but wasn't able to say, to shocked by the fall. All he did was lay on the ground and breath loudly.

"Regal is circling the base of this place looking for the others, just relax for a moment." She smiled at him. "I told you that you could trust me."

"Y... Yeah..." He managed to say between breaths.

"For a moment, I didn't think you were gonna jump."

_Not like I had much of a choice._ "... Yeah."

Isaac finally calmed down enough to get up off the ground. He stood and brushed the muddy sand off of his back. "Lets... never do that again."

"Suit yourself." Jennifer said with a shrug of her shoulders.

They didn't have to wait long for Regal's return. As soon as he had met back up with Isaac and Jennifer, Isaac asked him what he saw, and if he had found any of the missing Team Valiant members.

"No. I looked all around and found nobody."

Everyone was silent for a moment. The sound of thunder rumbled in the distance.

"What should we do?" Asked Regal. "Should we go back to the Headquarters?"

Isaac nodded. "There's no point sticking around here if Lloyd and the others are gone, let's go back and decide on what to do next."

Luckily, the storm was beginning to let up, making the upcoming journey back to Havoc City less difficult. Isaac lead the way away from Sunset Spire, into the wasteland, with Jennifer and Regal, close behind him. Plusle, who was still sleeping despite all that had happened, rested in Regal's arms as he flew in the air.

"I hope the others are ok." Jennifer said quietly, nearly whispering the words.

---

Lloyd eventually woke up, flat on the floor in a place he didn't recognize. His head hurt, but otherwise he was ok.

He stood up and looked around. The first thing he noticed was that he was alone, neither Rita or Sakura were in the tiny room with him.

The room was very dark, almost pitch black. It was also small, square, and the only way in or out was through a door made of red, metal bars. He walked over to the bars and looked through, he saw nothing except a long hallway lined with doors similar to his.

"Hellooooo? Hellooooooo!" He called out.

No response.

"Ritaaaaaaaa!"

Nothing.

"Saaaaaakuraaaaaa!"

Silence.

"Ritaaaaaaa! Saaaaaakuraaaaaaaa! Anybody?"

Wherever Lloyd was, he was alone, his friends who had been dragged along with him were no where to be found.

Lloyd pushed his body against the bars, but they were solid. With no other ways in or out of the room, he was trapped.

_Now what?_

He grabbed the bars and pulled, and once again, the bars were immobile.

Lloyd thought he heard footsteps, so he let go of the bars and listened closely. There was definitely the sound of footsteps, but he couldn't tell if they were coming towards him.

"Hellooooooo!?" He called out again.

"Lloyd? Is that you?" It sounded like Rita.

"Rita?"

"Yes it's me! I'm coming Lloyd!"

The footsteps got louder and louder, and eventually the sound came from down the hall, towards Lloyds cell.

"I'm here Rita!"

Finally Rita reached the small cell that held Lloyd. She smiled at him. "Oh I'm so happy you're safe!"

"I'm glad you're safe. Any ideas of where we are?"

"No, I don't."

"Alright, try to get me out of here, we need to escape right away."

"But Lloyd..." The voice was different, Rita sounded just like Lloyd, but without any emotion. "You can't escape. Never."

Rita transformed into an exact twin of Lloyd. Lloyd realized he had been tricked, and that this pokemon was actually Lancet in disguise.

"Lancet..."

"Yes, it is me." He laughed. "I can't believe I fooled you so easily. That was hilarious!"

"Where is Rita? And Sakura? Tell me!"

"Sorry, it's a seeeeeecreeeeet!" He said playfully, trying to tease Lloyd.

Lloyd responded to Lancets taunting with a Thunderbolt attack. Lancet never saw it coming.

"Ahhhhhhh! You little rat!" Lancet growled. "If the boss didn't want you unharmed, I... I... I would do something terrible!"

"Why are you even here Lancet?" Lloyd asked. "Did you just come to laugh at my expense, or do you have a purpose being here?"

"The Boss put me in charge of guarding you until the e... Until he has need of you."

"What does he want with me?"

"You'll find out, but not for awhile. I suggest you find something productive to do." Lancet yawned loudly. "I'm gonna go take a nap in the other room." Lancet walked down the hall. Lloyd could hear him walk into a nearby room, and then nothing. Once again Lloyd was alone, and the halls that surrounded his cell were silent.

He decided to try to get some rest, since there was nothing else he could do. He picked a random corner and laid down on his back. Eventually, despite laying on a cold, hard floor, he managed to fall asleep.

---

Rita was in a cell similar to Lloyds, but far away from his. As soon as she woke up, she looked around, confused by her surroundings, and she found herself being watched by the Charizard, Zar, who stared at her from the other side of a barred door..

"What... where am I?" She asked Zar sleepily.

"You're trapped. A prisoner." He said simply. "About time too. It's just a shame I couldn't be the one to bring you here. I certainly wouldn't have been as gentle as the boss was."

"Like you could have done anything. I've beaten you twice already!"

"Grrrr, you wouldn't last a minute one on one against me. I would turn you into nothing but a large piece of charcoal."

Rita stuck out her tongue. "Why don't you open the door and prove it hotshot? Scared?"

Zar gritted his teeth, trying to remain calm. "The boss said you are not to be harmed unless your friend tries to escape. Consider yourself lucky!"

"Ooooooo, I'm so scared."

"You better hope he doesn't try to escape, you little shrub." Zar began to stomp off down the hall. He yelled back to Rita as he left. "Otherwise, It'll be ME who gets to punish you, and I will enjoy it!"

"And you better hope I don't escape!" She yelled in response. "I'll beat you to a burning little pulp, you stupid, ugly little lizard!"

She heard the sound of a door slamming somewhere down the hall, then nothing.

Rita sighed. "I hope the others are ok."


	41. The Cave

Chapter 41: The Cave

By the time the sun went down, and night time came, the rain that had soaked the wasteland had completely stopped, and the clouds that made it had gone away, leaving nothing to block the stars and the moon in the sky.

The ground Isaac and Jennifer walked on was still very muddy though. The team was going to take at least another full day before they reached Havok City.

"Psssst, Isaac." Jennifer whispered. "I think something is following us."

Isaac and Jennifer both stopped and turned back towards the direction they came from. Isaac looked but didn't see anything or anyone that might have been following them.

"I don't see anything, are you sure you saw something?"

"Maybe not... I guess I'm just a little paranoid right now." Jennifer opened her mouth wide and let out a huge yawn. "Sorry."

"It's ok. You're tired, like me, and probably Regal too." Isaac thought to himself for a moment. "I think we should probably get some rest somewhere. We'd probably collapse from exhaustion if we tried to get from here to Havok City without stopping." Isaac waved at Regal. "Hey Regal, were gonna take some time to rest."

Regal immediately flew down, passed over Plusle to Jennifer, and laid down on the wet ground. "Thank goodness... I've never been so tired in my entire life."

"Well, not here... It's too wet and there's mud everywhere."

"Where then?" Asked Regal.

"There's some rocks over there." Said Jennifer, pointing to the rocks in question. "Maybe we can find a dry spot there."

"Great idea Jennifer." Complemented Isaac. "Let's go."

Regal reluctantly got off the ground, and flew towards the rocks, going ahead of Isaac and Jennifer. Jennifer continued to carry Plusle, who was still somehow sleeping after so long.

The rocks that Jennifer had pointed out turned out to be natural landmarks for a cave that went down into the ground, like a diagonal tunnel.

"This is perfect!" Said Jennifer. "It'll be nice and dry in here for sure!"

"It's pretty dark though." Regal pointed out. "I can't see more then a few feet in."

"That's fine." Said Isaac. "The ground around the opening of this cave is dry enough that we should be able to sleep comfortably, we don't need to go that far inside."

Regal landed on the stone floor of the cave entrance, then immediately laid himself down. "Ahh... Not as good as sleeping in a bed, but it'll do..."

Isaac yawned, then sat down with his back against the wall. Jennifer sat beside him and rested her head on his side. Isaac looked over at her and saw that she was staring at Plusle, with the look of admiration in her eyes.

"I never noticed until now how cute she is." Said Jennifer quietly. "I almost wish I could keep her for myself to take care of."

"Why don't you just ask Regal if you can help with anything?"

"Oh no... I'd probably just get in his way or something. I've never had to actually take care of anyone before. It was always me who was taken care of by someone else, never the other way around."

"I think you would be great at it."

"At what?" She asked.

"Taking care of a kid. You're nice, gentle, caring..."

"Maybe." Jennifer yawned loudly. "My mother always told me the same thing, but I never really believed it. She made it all seem easy, taking care of so many of us so well."

"I think if she was so good at taking care of people, she would be a good judge of who was also able to do it. You shouldn't doubt yourself Jennifer, you don't give yourself enough credit."

"I don't know... What have I really done in my life to deserve credit for anything? Sorting mail is near the top of my list of accomplishments."

"What about all the help you've given us? You're a great fighter, and a great friend, and I speak for everyone when I say it wouldn't be the same without you on the team."

"I guess..."

"Jennifer, before I joined Team Valiant, I was alone. Sure, I had my father, and Pipton was full of other Piplup, but I never really fit in. The others cared about nothing except survival. Eat, sleep, rinse and repeat. I was different, I wanted to explore, discover, do something that would have an impact on the world." Isaac sighed. "When everyone was killed the day Lloyd and Rita had arrived, I thought I had lost everything, I thought my life was over. But when they took me to Brotherhood Headquarters, I quickly felt more at home then I ever have before."

"I feel the same way. I never really felt like I belonged anywhere until you invited me to join Team Valiant. Life at home was miserable, with my sisters teasing me all the time, and working at the mail room was driving me nuts."

"What did you want to do? Before joining us?"

"All I've ever wanted was a quiet, peaceful, normal life. Home would have been fine if my sisters weren't so mean to me about everything."

"That sounds nice."

"Yeah... But I think the life I have now is even better. Lloyd... Rita... Regal and Sakura.... And you more then anyone... I wouldn't trade my friends for anything."

"Me neither."

Regal began to mumble something in his sleep. "Mmmm... No... I don't need anything... Thank you... But I'm allergic... Gah!" Regal started to snore quietly, and stopped mumbling.

"I think it's about time we got some sleep, it won't be long before morning."

"Alright." Jennifer looked up at Isaac. "That was a great talk Isaac. Thanks."

"Yeah..."

After that, neither Isaac or Jennifer said anything. It wasn't long before everyone was fast asleep. And it wasn't long after that, that Plusle had woken up from her long sleep.

_Mmm, Hungry._

Plusle walked over to Regal, and shook him as hard as she could, but she couldn't wake him up.

She looked around and noticed the large, yellow pokemon that feed her the electricity was gone. Without the electricity he produced, she wouldn't be able to eat.

Figuring the yellow guy was nearby somewhere, Plusle walked further into the cave, alone.

Isaac, Jennifer and Regal all slept soundly, not knowing the newborn they we're caring for was leaving them.

---

Isaac woke up just as the sun was beginning to rise. He felt strange from sleeping on the stone floor of the cave opening, but stood up and quickly got over it.

Jennifer, who was laying on her side next to where Isaac just was, was still sleeping despite the sunlight shining in her eyes. Isaac went over to her and nudged her slightly, urging her to wake up.

"Uuuuuuh... No I don't wanna get up yet." Jennifer Said sleepily. "Go away..."

"Jennifer, its me. Come on, wake up we gotta leave soon."

"Ok... Ok... Gimme a minute..." She rolled over onto her back and sat up, but didn't stand, then she yawned loudly while rubbing her eyes. "Man... So tired..."

"I know." Said Isaac. "Me too. But we gotta get a move on if were going to get to Havok City today."

Isaac left Jennifer alone, allowing her time to wake up fully, and moved on to waking up Regal. Isaac nudged Regal with his foot, and Regal instantly woke up, startled.

"Ahhhh!" He yelled. "Huh? Oh... Isaac it's you." He yawned. "So, I'm guessing it's time for us to go?"

"Yeah, as soon as were all awake, we'll leave and head to Havok City."

Regal got up. When he did he looked around and noticed something missing. "Hey, where is the baby?"

"Plusle?" Jennifer asked. She looked around as well and she too noticed that Plusle was nowhere to be found. "Oh no, she's not here!"

"I'll look around outside." Said Isaac, who was already on his way out of the cave.

Jennifer and Regal followed Isaac, and they all looked around for Plusle.

"Pluuuuuuuusle!" They all called out.

"Plusle, where are you!" Yelled Jennifer.

They yelled out for Plusle for awhile, and eventually, every stopped, realizing Plusle had not come out of the cave.

"Plusle wouldn't of been able to get far out here." Said Isaac. "The only place she could be is further inside that cave."

"Well? What are we waiting for?" Asked Regal. "Lets get inside and look for her!"

"We don't know what's in this cave, so we have to be careful." Explained Isaac. "There's a chance that the cave is the entrance to a mystery dungeon, and if it is, that means there will be wild pokemon below."

"Oh no... What if one of those wild pokemon find Plusle first?" Jennifer didn't even want to think about what would happen, there was no chance a newborn pokemon could defend itself against one of the wild pokemon that lived in the wasteland.

"Don't worry, we're going to save her. We won't let anything happen to her." Isaac lead the way back into the cave. Despite the fact the sun was starting to rise, the cave was still very dark and nobody was able to see very far inside.

"Stay close everyone." Isaac told the others. "And be careful."

---

It wasn't long before Team Valiant journeyed deep enough into the cave that their was no light left helping them see from the sun outside. Everyone was barely able to see more then a few feet in front of them, and even then they couldn't see very clearly unless it was right up close.

The cave was quiet. Nobody could hear anything except their own footsteps, and the occasional sound of water dripping somewhere in the cave.

"Hey, what's this stuff?" Jennifer suddenly asked.

Isaac and Regal turned towards Jennifers voice and went towards it. They found Jennifer standing next to what looked like a long strand of white rope sticking to the ceiling and floor. Jennifer grabbed at it curiously, and then tried letting go of it, but wasn't able to. The sticky strand stuck to her like super glue.

"Eww, get it off!" She cried out as she continued to pull her hand away. Isaac grabbed her arm and they both pulled away. Their combined strength managed to free Jennifer, and both she and Isaac fell backwards.

"Gross, what is that stuff?"

"It looks like part of a web." Said Regal. "Most bug type pokemon can make it or something similar, and typically use it to capture other pokemon."

"Ugh, that sounds horrible." Said Jennifer. "It felt so weird, and I wouldn't have been able to get it off without Isaacs help."

"There's probably even more down the hall." Warned Regal. "We need to be extra careful not to touch any of it."

They were about to move on, and continue to go further inside the cave, but suddenly everyone heard a strange sound that loudly echoed through the cavern. A strange, hissing sound.

"What was that?" Asked Jennifer.

"I know that sound." Said Regal, who sounded very worried. "Spinarak. Oasis Island had a lot of them in the forest I lived in. This is very bad."

"What's wrong? What makes them so dangerous?" Asked Isaac.

"They're more then just wild pokemon, they don't attack alone, they all attack as a large swarm, overwhelming their prey with just numbers. Individually they are weak, but their teamwork and numbers is what makes them so dangerous."

The hissing sound was heard again, even louder this time.

"They must know we're here, they're getting closer." Said Isaac.

The members of Team Valiant all gathered close together, putting themselves back to back to avoid any surprise attacks. The hissing sounds of the Spinarak got louder, and more frequent, and it became more and more obvious that there was a lot of them coming.

The first one appeared not from any side, but came in from above. One of the Spinarak had climbed up on the roof and leapt down between Team Valiant, sending everyone in different directions, separating them.

Several Spinarak appeared from the shadows and immediately jumped onto Isaac, trying to bring him down. Isaac shook them off, then blasted them with quick bubble beam attacks. The small size of the Spinarak made them weak, so taking them down one by one wasn't difficult, but each one that went down was soon replaced.

Regal had the most trouble fighting the Spinarak. Not only was he the easiest to bring down, but Regal had yet to fight anything since evolving, leaving him with no option other then to avoid the Spinarak who leapt from every direction.

When the first Spinarak attacked, Jennifer was knocked far from either Isaac or Regal, far enough that she wasn't able to see either of them in the darkness, she was only able to hear them as they fought against the Spinarak. Jennifer had to fight off three of the spider pokemon by herself, kicking at them and throwing off of her whenever they tried to bring her down.

Several Spinarak jumped down from the roof onto Isaacs back, almost flooring him. Isaac panicked, and tried to get them off by running backwards into a wall. Isaac immediately regretted this, because as soon as he collided with what he thought was a wall, but was actually a pillar of stone going from the floor to the ceiling, the pillar was destroyed, and the cave began to rumble loudly.

Before anyone could react, the hallway they were in caved in. The cave in filled the space that was between Isaac and Regal, and where Jennifer had been forced to go when the Spinarak first attacked. Jennifer was once again separated from her friends, and was alone in the near pitch black cave.

Jennifer went over to the newly formed stone wall that split the group, and banged against it. "Isaac! Can you hear me!?"

She couldn't hear any response coming from the other side.

Jennifer wasn't about to leave without them. The last time she was separated from the members of Team Valiant she was with, they had disappeared.

"Hello!" She called out down the other paths through the cave, hoping Isaac or Regal could hear her. Neither of them responded.

_I gotta help them. I hope this is the right way._ She thought as she ran down one of the halls they had not explored yet.

---

Isaac and Regal kept fighting off the Spinarak that attacked them, but both were getting tired, and there seemed to be no limit to the number of the spider pokemon in the cave.

Regal was finally brought down when two of the Spinarak jumped up at him from opposite directions, landing onto his wings and gripping them tightly, causing him to drop from the air like a stone and hit the ground hard.

With Isaac as the last threat, the Spinarak were all able to team up and swarm him. Isaac tried to shake them off of him, but it wasn't long before they brought him down. Isaac tried getting up, but suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his side. He looked, and saw one of the larger Spinarak with its twin pincers biting him. Isaac felt sick to his stomach, and his whole body refused to move. Another of the larger Spinarak did the same to Regal, biting him while the others pinned him down. Both Isaac and regal tried to fight the poison, but it wasn't long before both of them lost consciousness.

Satisfied that their prey had been defeated, the Spinarak all worked together to carry them away, deeper into the cave.

---

Jennifer didn't know where she was going, but she continued to travel through the cave, hoping she could find a way around the cave in.

Once in awhile, she heard the hissing sounds of the Spinarak, as well as the sound of them moving through the cave. Luckily, they weren't moving towards Jennifer, otherwise she would stand no chance of defending herself alone.

As much as she wanted to, she didn't dare call out the names of her missing friends, all that would do is bring every one of the spider pokemon to her that could here her voice. So all she did was quietly, but quickly, look through the cave.

Eventually, she found more of the web strands that the Spinarak created sticking to the walls. The further she went, the more of them there were. Jennifer wasn't sure if she wanted to keep going down this path, because if there was more webs, there was probably more Spinarak she would have to avoid. But then Jennifer remember, it was right around the area where the cave in occurred when she found the sticky web strand that she had gotten stuck to. _Maybe I'm going the right way after all?_ She thought.

As Jennifer continued down through the cave, she noticed that it gradually became easier to see. At first she thought she was heading towards a way out, which she didn't want, but then she noticed that the light came from the ceiling. There was holes in the ceiling every once in awhile, they weren't very big, but they were big enough to let in some sunlight, and Jennifer was finally able to see inside the cave.

As the light got brighter, the number of webs she found also increased. There were so many webs on the walls that they completely covered them. Jennifer made sure to be careful not to trip over any rocks, because she knew from experience that if she somehow fell and landedon the webs, she would never be able to get out.

When Jennifer got close to large, light filled chamber, she heard the hissing sounds of the Spinarak. She stepped quietly as she approached, and saw that the spider pokemon were all gathered around something that was around the corner, in the back of the chamber.

Since non of the Spinarak seemed to be paying attention to what was behind them, Jennifer dared to get closer, and peek around to see what they were focusing on. It wasn't long before Jennifer spotted both of her friends, stuck to webs that covered the far wall, and not moving.

_Oh no! Isaac!_ She thought to herself, barely managing to not say it out loud. _Please be ok! Please! I'm coming!_

Jennifer was half tempted to just leap over the crowd of Spinarak, and attempt to free her friends and make sure that they were ok. But she knew that it would be a reckless, and stupid move. All that would do is get her caught, and then there would be no hope for any of them.

Suddenly, from a tunnel on the opposite side of the room the Spinarak waited. Jennifer heard an extremely loud screech. It sounded like nails being dragged on a chalk board, only a hundred times louder. Jennifer tried to block out the noise by covering her ears, but the sounds volume combined with her highly developed hearing made the effort futile.

When the sound stopped, the hissing of the Spinarak ceased, making the chamber they waited completely silent. Jennifer looked towards the tunnel the screech had come from, out of it came an Ariados. A very, very big Ariados. Easily a hundred times bigger then the un-evolved Spinarak.

The Ariados walked over towards the web that trapped both Isaac and Regal. Jennifer realized that the Spinarak must had brought Isaac and Regal to the Ariados, which was probably their queen, so that she could feed on them.

Jennifer's heart was beating faster then ever, if she didn't do something quick, Isaac and Regal were going to be eaten.

The first idea that came to Jennifer was to cave in the chamber like Isaac had accidentally done earlier. With the light leaking through, Jennifer figured it would take much for her to cause it to collapse.

She took in a deep breath, calming herself, then ran towards the crown of Spinarak. Just before she reached them, she used her powerful legs to jump towards the ceiling, then kicked it with all the strength she could muster. Once her kick connected, she fell back down, landing hard on one of the Spinarak.

Before any of them could attack, Jennifer, leapt away, back to where she had been hiding previously. The ceiling cracked, then broke away, a large section of it raining down on the spider pokemon below. Not only did the collapsing roof crush most of the Spinarak, it also injured the Ariados who had nearly managed to begin its meal.

The Ariados turned around and screeched at Jennifer, then charged towards her. Jennifer leapt over it, causing the Ariados to run full speed into a wall. While it recovered from the crash, Jennifer jumped up over the Ariados, then delivered a powerful mid-air kick to the head of the beast.

Jennifer thought he attack would have at least stunned the giant spider pokemon, but instead, the Ariados swatted Jennifer with one of its legs, sending her flying across the room, crashing into a section of the roof. Before Jennifer could recover from the sudden attack, the Ariados ran up to her and pinned her against the floor with another one of its legs, and pressed down hard.

Jennifer reached around as her whole body was being crushed, looking for something she could defend herself with. Eventually, she gripped a fist sized stone that would be perfect for throwing. She aimed at the face of the Ariados and tossed the stone as hard as she could.

The rock hit Ariados right in the eye, making it back away, freeing Jennifer, and making it screech and hiss from the pain. Not wanting to risk another close range attack, Jennifer picked up more rocks, and threw them at the Ariados, each one hitting it in different places.

Jennifer thought she had the beast where she wanted it, but the tables turned when Ariados spat out a sticky strand of web as her from its mouth. The web hit her in the foot, and in began to retract, making Jennifer fall to the ground and be dragged towards Ariados.

She continued to pick up rocks as she got closer to the spider, but it just ignored every rock that bounced off of it, determined to finish of its prey once and for all. Jennifer then tried grabbing onto whatever she could, hoping to stop herself, but the stone floor was smooth, giving her nothing to grip onto.

She called out Isaacs name as she was dragged along the floor. Reaching out and looking towards his trapped body.

"Isaac! Wake up! Please!"

But Isaac wasn't about to wake up. Nobody was going to save Jennifer, and if Jennifer couldn't save herself, she, along with her friends, were going to be dinner.

Jennifer tried one last thing, she grabbed a rock with a slight sharp edge to it, and hacked away at the web that stuck to her foot. Even when the rock seemed to do nothing to the web, she continued the to cut away at it.

She was right below the Ariados, and kept swinging the sharpened rock at the web, faster and harder with each swing. The Ariados prepared the spit out even more webbing, which would trap Jennifer for good. Jennifer lifted the rock high over her head, and brought it down with all her might. The rock cut right through, and her foot was free.

The Ariados spat out the web that was going to trap Jennifer, but she managed to roll away at the very last second, causing the web to harmlessly stick to the floor.

Even though Jennifer was free, she was still exhausted from the battle, and didn't know much more she could possibly do to defeat this beastly pokemon. Jennifer's last plan of action was to lead the Ariados away from the chamber, and lose it in the tunnels, only to return here later, free Isaac and Regal, then get out as quickly as possible. She got up, turned away fro the Ariados, and ran down the hall she had originally came from.

Ariados screeched with frustration as its prey escaped, and followed after her.

---

The cave began to grow dark again as Jennifer ran from the Ariados that chased after her. It wasn't long before Jennifer was unable to see very far around her.

Jennifer had never been so exhausted in her life, her entire body cried out for rest, but she kept going, not stopping at all.

While she could no longer see her pursuer, the Ariados wasn't far behind, screeching and hissing as it chased after Jennifer. Even though the tunnels were much smaller then the one Ariados had first came through, back at the chamber Isaac and Regal were, it had no trouble squeezing through the tight passages, barely slowing down.

_This can't be real... _Jennifer thought to herself as she continued to flee. _This is just a dream... A nightmare... I'll wake up any minute now, back up at the surface with Isaac beside me and Plusle in my arms._

Jennifer turned sharply around a corner, then ran as fast as she could and turned another corner. She stopped and stayed as quiet as she could, hoping that she could finally lose this creature long enough for her to double back and free her friends. It seemed to work, as the Ariados took a different turn then she did, and chased after nobody down a different corridor.

She waited, and listened to the sound of Ariados getting farther and farther away. Once she was sure the beast was gone, Jennifer sighed a breath of relief.

"Thought I was a goner for sure..." She said out loud to herself. Jennifer took a moment to rest, catch her breath, and calm down after the terrifying experience of being chased like that. Once she thought she had the energy to find her way back to the chamber, she began to walk, as silently as she possibly could, through the tunnels once again.

It wasn't long before Jennifer a way out, something she didn't want to find yet. That was, until she got an idea. Jennifer remembered that the roof of the Ariados' chamber had caved in, so all Jennifer needed to do was walk outside, find the huge hole in the wasteland that she had made herself, jump in and she would be able to rescue Isaac and Regal.

She did exactly that, she went straight outside, climbing up the tunnel leading out. The fresh air and warm sun felt good, but she focused on the task she planned out. She climbed a rock that was located just outside the cave entrance and scouted out for anything that looked like the cave in. It didn't take long for her to spot the hole.

She jogged over to it, looked down to make sure it was empty, and jumped back inside the cave.

There was no sign of any of the wild pokemon that lived in the cave. No Spinarak swarm, no Ariados, nothing but her, Isaac, Regal and Plusle.

"Wait... Plusle?"

She hadn't noticed the baby pokemon before. She, along with Isaac and Regal, was stuck to the webs that lined the wall. Jennifer figured she didn't notice the first time because her small sized caused Plusle to be obscured by the Spinarak swarm from earlier.

Jennifer got close to everyone, and saw that each one of them was breathing just fine. Everyone was just unconscious.

"Thank goodness... Everyone's safe."

Jennifer grabbed a large, sharp rock, hoping she could use it to eventually get everyone down. She started with Plusle, since her small body meant that there wouldn't be much web needed to cut.

Carefully, Jennifer hacked away at the web, being careful not to accidentally hit anyone, or get stuck to the web. She cut one strand, then two, and soon, Plusle fell free from the web. Jennifer managed to catch her in mid-air.

"Plusle?" She whispered. "Can you hear me?"

Plusle didn't make a sound, nor did she open her eyes. She just laid limp in Jennifers arms, breathing softly. Jennifer noticed two small red marks on Plusles arm, to her, they looked like two bite marks.

"These spiders must have infected everyone with venom, and knocked them out to make them easy to carry away." Jennifer thought out loud. "I hope It wears off quickly."

She gently places Plusle on the ground below her, then picked up the rock she used to cut the webs again. She cut down Regal, then eventually, managed to free Isaac.

Jennifer wondered what to do next. There was no way in a million years she would be able to carry everyone, and Jennifer was not about to leave without everyone. Jennifer decided the best course of action was to carry everyone one at a time out of the cave by jumping out of the cave in hole.

Once again, she started with Plusle, since she was the lightest. She picked her up, and jumped out of the cave, outside to the wasteland, with little effort. Jennifer placed Plusle on the ground, then went back for Regal next.

When she picked up Regal, she thought she heard something. She stopped for a moment and listened closely, but only heard silence. She ignored it, and figured it was just her stressed head playing tricks on her, and proceeded to jump out of the cave with Regal in her arms. After placing him on the ground beside Plusle, she went back to get Isaac.

For the third time, she landed gracefully on the floor of the cave, beside the unconscious Isaac. But something was different, she felt like she wasn't alone.

Hoping that her instincts were wrong, Jennifer turned around. She looked with horror as the Ariados returned to the chamber, squeezing though the passage Jennifer had lead it. It looked at Jennifer, who hovered over what was once its prey, and sounded that familiar, loud, and terrifying screech.

Jennifer's first, natural instinct was to just run. To flee from the creature that was trying so had to make her its dinner. But she couldn't, she couldn't abandon Isaac after all he's done for her, after all she's done to try to save him now.

She stared at the Ariados, the feeling of terror being replace with bravery, and determination.

"I won't leave Isaac." She said to it, not caring that the Ariados probably didn't understand her. "You can't have him! You can't have any of us!"

Jennifer's body began to glow brightly. She didn't notice at first, because she was so focused on the creature that threatened her and her friends. All of the energy she lost in the last fight returned to her, and then some. She quickly grew taller and the shape of her body changing slightly. Jennifer had evolved from Buneary, to a more powerful Lopunny.

The Ariados hardly seemed to care, and charged at Jennifer. Jennifer also ran at the beast, only she was running at a speed even she couldn't believe. When the two got close, Jennifer jumped right at the head of the Ariados, and delivered not one, but a flurry of powerful kicks. When her attack was over, Jennifer jumped off of Ariados' head, back to where she was standing beside Isaac.

Ariados took a few unsteady steps, then fell forward, stirring up dust from the caves floor. The beast didn't move up from where it fell. Jennifer had finally defeated it, all by herself.

Jennifer didn't take any time to celebrate her victory, instead she leaned down to pick up Isaac, then jumped out of the cave.

---

Not yet used to how much more powerful she was, she had leapt at least twenty feet into the air past the cave in hole. Jennifer was almost frightened by how high she had jumped upwards.

Despite the unexpected leap, she managed to make a graceful landing. She carried Isaac over to where she had left Regal and Plusle, and placed him on the ground. She kneeled beside him, and shook his body gently.

"Isaac." She said to him. Her voice had changed by the evolution, sounding more mature. "Isaac. Wake up!"

She called out his name, and shook his body to wake him. Eventually, Isaac opened his eyes, and looked at her.

"Huh... Who?"

"It's me. It's Jennifer."

"Jennifer? Wow, you evolved... Just like me... That's... Uhhhhh..."

"Huh? What's wrong Isaac."

Isaac stood up, grabbed his stomach and wobbled slightly. "I don't feel so good..."

"I know. You were poisoned by those things down there." She went over to him, and reached inside the bag that was slung over his shoulder, she pulled out three small pink berries. "Here, eat these, they'll make you feel better."

Isaac took one of the berries, looked at it, then reluctantly popped it into his mouth. "... Eww... These things are disgusting..."

"Really, I like the taste of them." Jennifer remembered her mother giving her one of the Pecha Berries when she had food poisoning. It tasted to her like a sweet, delicious pastry.

"I never liked sweet foods... Ahhhhh... But I do feel a lot better.... Whew, thanks for everything Jennifer."

"I just did what you would have done in the same situation. I would never abandon you or any of the others, especially not to be the meal of some wild pokemon."

"I can't believe you've evolved!" He said excitedly. " I'm so happy for you!"

"Yeah, what a great feeling it was! I felt so much stronger, and... It's just an unbelievable feeling." Jennifer smiled. "Come on, lets wake the others."

"Right, we still have to get to Havok City." Said Isaac, remembering their goal before losing Plusle in the cave.

Isaac went over to Regal and poked him with his foot. "Come on Regal, wake up." Regal didn't move or make a sound, he just laid there like he was asleep.

Isaac spit out a small stream of bubbles at Regal, which splashed on his face. Regal got up instantly, coughing and sputtering. "What's going on?!" He yelled upon waking, then he looked up at Isaac. "Oh, did I sleep in?"

"Don't you remember? We went into the cave and got caught by those Spinarak pokemon." Asked Isaac.

"Oh... I thought that was just a dream. That actually happened then?"

"Yup, it did. Here." Isaac threw one of the other Pecha Berries at him. "Eat that, you'll feel better."

Regal obeyed, and threw the berry into him mouth. He quickly chewed on it and swallowed it down. "Wait, where is Plusle?"

"I have her." Said Jennifer, who had Plusle cradled in her arms. "She's fine, I've already given her the berry so she should be ok."

"Jennifer? You evolved too? Wonderful!"

"Yeah." Said Isaac. "But lets save the celebrations for when we get back to Havok City and after we tell the Brotherhood that Lloyd and the others are missing."

Isaac began to walk towards the direction of Havok City. Jennifer followed with Regal beside her.

"Do you want me to take Plusle off your hands?" Regal asked as they went along.

"No, that's fine. I'll take care of her, you just relax."

"Alright then."

With the sand of the wasteland finally dry, it wouldn't take Team Valiant to long to reach Havok City. Soon they would be able to surprise the Brotherhood with the news of not one, but two of their members evolutions, and pass on the news of the other, disappeared members, and hopefully get help in finding them.

---

And thus ends one of the longest written documents I've ever written in such a short amount of time.

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I, and those helping me, will be working hard to finish this story soon. Enjoy, and remember to post reviews.


	42. The Rescue Mission

Chapter 42: The Rescue Mission

It was late at night when Team Valiant returned to Havok City. The first thing they did was go straight to the Captains office to tell him all of what happened at Sunset Spire.

Isaac, Jennifer and Regal all helped to explain the situation, eventually finishing with what happened on their journey back.

"So... Lets go over this one more time." Said the Captain, who paced back and forth in his office, in front of the remaining members of Team Valiant. "Lloyd, Rita, and a new member of your team, Sakura, have gone missing."

"That's right." Confirmed Isaac.

"Also... You believe the person who has taken them, is the same person hunting Lloyd, who ou say is called... Mewtwo?"

"That's the name I heard during my escape of the Infinity Stone factory, just before I met up with the others at Sunset Spire."

The Captain bent down and opened a drawer on his desk, he took out a large thick folder and placed it on the desk then opened it. Inside was a complicated form, and a photograph of the pokemon Isaac saw on the monitor at the factory.

"This him, Isaac?" The Captain said, pointing to the photo.

"Yeah, I saw the image of him on a computer screen while he was talking to Maverick."

"If you're right, and it was Mewtwo who captured the other members of your team, we could have a very big problem."

"Why?" Asked Jennifer. "What makes him so bad?"

"He's been kidnaping Pokemon for awhile from some of the smaller villages. Nobody knows where he takes everyone, or where Mewtwo himself is, so we haven't been able to actually do anything to stop him!"

"So there's nothing we can do?" Said Isaac.

"Listen guys, I'll try to come up with something. I owe Lloyd for getting rid of Lancet, and I owe all of you for all of the hard work you've done here. I'll sleep on it, try to come up with some ideas, and hopefully figure out a plan."

"What should we do?"

"I recommend getting a good nights sleep. I can't imagine you've gotten much rest since you left a few days ago."

---

Isaac, Jennifer and Regal all left the Captains office. And headed down the elevator and went straight to their room. Inside there was a pokemon waiting for them, the same pokemon that Lloyd was so concerned about from the Academy.

"Hey, you're Celebi, right?" Asked Isaac, who almost couldn't remember the name of the pokemon.

"Yes. Thanks to the members of Team Torrent, I have made a full recovery. Where is Lloyd?" She asked suddenly.

"Lloyd was captured." Isaac answered right away. "We think he was captured by the guy who's been after him so long."

"Mewtwo has captured Lloyd?"

Isaac nodded.

"No... This is terrible! We must rescue him right away!"

"We don't know where he took Lloyd, and the Captain didn't know either." Said Jennifer. "We can't rescue him if we don't know where to look."

"I know where he is... I've been there before."

"You have?" Asked Isaac. "Where is it?"

"The place Mewtwo has taken Lloyd to is an old building, built by the humans so long ago. The place was once a lab used for experimenting on pokemon, and is now being used by Mewtwo for the exact same purpose."

"If you know where the building is, you could show us where is, right?"

"It won't be that simple I'm afraid." Said Celebi. "Normally, I have the ability to teleport anywhere I wish, as long I have energy to do so. Except, Mewtwo uses his own psychic powers, which are much more powerful then my own, to prevent anyone from using that ability to get in or out. Not only that, every normal entrance to the place is sealed up, the only way to get in or out is to have Mewtwo teleport you."

"How are we gonna get in then?" Asked Regal.

"There is one place I know of that Mewtwo doesn't. Unfortunately, the way is extremely dangerous." Celebi began to explain. "The facility is build right next to a mountain, and beneath the mountain is a series of tunnels built by the humans which the wild pokemon have moved into, turning it into a mystery dungeon. Somewhere in this mystery dungeon is what the humans called a 'parking garage', where they stored vehicles. In that place is a broken down elevator that goes up into the building."

"That sounds pretty straight forward." Said Isaac. "We go into the mystery dungeon, climb up the elevator shaft, and get Lloyd and the others out without being spotted by any of Mewtwos goons."

"There is a big problem though." Said Celebi.

"What?"

"The problem is the pokemon who reside in the mystery dungeon. They aren't normal pokemon."

"How? What's so bad about them?" Asked Jennifer.

"They are all the result of a failed experiment, one that Mewtwo is interested in. And it changed them into beasts... The goal of this experiment to make it so any living creature would be immortal, able to live for any length of time and never age. The humans were the first to try the experiments, and started using wild pokemon from the tunnels below the lab. Every single experiment failed, and changed the pokemon."

"Changed?" Said Isaac. "Changed how?"

"The pokemon would go feral after the experiment, attacking anyone and everyone it saw, not caring about its own well-being. It also caused alterations to their appearance, they would constantly emit a strange, dark cloud like substance from their skin, causing them to resemble shadows of their former selves, and their eyes would turn completely red, like frozen orbs of blood."

"Wait... We've seen a pokemon just like that!" Said Regal. "Remember Isaac? It attacked us inside Echo Caverns!"

Isaac remembered, he also remembered that the pokemon had turned back into Lloyd right before his eyes. But Lloyd wasn't 'feral', not only did Lloyd act normally, but not long after leaving the Academy, Lloyd helped rescue Isaac from the Ariados that attacked them in the wasteland.

"Yeah... I remember."

"Yes, that pokemon..." Celebi hesitated, as if she didn't know what to say next. "I think it would be best to wait to explain to you about him, wait until after you've rescued your friends. As I was saying, the tunnels are filled with these experiments, and therefore are extremely dangerous. They wouldn't hesitate to kill you, and it won't be easy taking them down once they spot you."

"I'm not afraid..." Said Jennifer. "I'll gladly go if it means rescuing the others."

"Me too!" Said Regal. "I am bound to serve the princess, bound to serve Rita, even if it means I must put my life on the line to save her!"

"I have no doubt that they would do the same in our position. We have to save them, no matter what." Isaac nodded his head. "I'll help save them for sure."

"Very well then, but I should recommend you bring more pokemon along, ones you trust, and can fight well." Celebi floated up into the air. "I must go for now. I have something I must get that will help you in your rescue. I will return here at sundown tomorrow, and take you to the tunnels."

Celebi's body faded away, and soon disappeared, leaving the members of Team Valiant alone in their room.

"We should get some rest." Said Isaac. "If this Celebi girl isn't exaggerating, and these tunnels are as dangerous as she described, we should make sure we are fully rested and ready for whatever we'll be facing."

"I agree. We haven't had a chance to sleep in a bed in awhile." Said Jennifer in a sleepy voice.

Despite the sheets being gone off their beds, due to Plusle tearing them apart a few days ago, nobody had any trouble sleeping.

---

The next morning, everyone woke up around the same time. They all went down to the cafeteria to get breakfast, and once they ate, returned to their room to discuss last night.

"We need to get ready, Celebi will be back in a few hours." Isaac opened up one of the drawers which contained the supplies of Team Valiant. He pulled out a bag, and filled it with a variety of berries, as well as a few escape orbs. "One of us should go shopping, we only have basic supplies and I think we should probably get some better stuff for where we're going."

"Like Citrus Berries and things like that?" Asked Regal.

"Yeah, and probably a few orbs, we only have escape orbs in storage."

"I can do that." Said Regal. "One of the things I was in charge of back at the castle was shopping for the ingredients the kitchen needed, as well as buying things for the king and queen when they were too busy to shop themselves."

"Alright." Said Isaac with a nod. " I think I'll go talk to the Captain about getting some pokemon to come help."

"What should I do?" Asked Jennifer.

"We'll need someone to take care of Plusle. It would be far to dangerous to bring her along." Isaac thought for a second. "Go talk to Ewan and ask if there's any electric type pokemon in his team that could take care of her."

"Alright, I'll go right now." Jennifer picked up Plusle in her arms and held her tight. "I wont be long." Jennifer took Plusle and opened the door to their room, then left down the hallway. Regal did the same soon afterwards, leaving for the shopping district in Havok City. Isaac left the bag of what supplies they had behind, and went to the Captains room for a second visit.

---

Jennifer knocked on the door to Team Torrents room. Plusle was awake, and apparently didn't want to be carried around, as she constantly tried squirming free of Jennifer's arms.

Ewan was the one who opened the door. "Oh, hello, umm... which sister are you again?" He said, not recognizing who it was.

"It's Jennifer."

A great big smile formed on Ewans face. "Oh, you've evolved? Well isn't that just wonderful!"

"Isaac did too, both evolutions happened during our last mission."

"You guys must have been through a lot if two of you have evolved!" Said Ewan enthusiastically. "What happened?"

"We were sent to Sunset Spire to rescue two Brotherhood members who were captured recently... But." Jennifer explained all that had happened. She explained how the whole thing was a trap, and that Lloyd, Rita and Sakura had all been captured by the pokemon who had sent so many hunters after Lloyd.

"That's... that's just terrible." Ewan sat down on one of the large beds inside his room. "I just can't believe it... Where did they take them? Do you know?"

"We do, and we're going to go rescue them as soon as we're all ready to go." She held up Plusle, who was still being fussy. "I wanted to ask if you had any electric pokemon on your team who could take care of this little pokemon."

"Oh, that'll be no problem. One of our members is an Electabuzz named Eliza, with a huge family of kids, she'll have no problem babysitting." Jennifer went over to the bed Ewan sat at and placed Plusle down on it, Plusle began to jump up and down on it, giggling excitedly.

"Thank you Ewan, I hope she won't be a problem."

"Don't be silly, she won't be a hassle at all. Is it just the three of you going to this place?" He asked.

"Well, so far yes, but Isaac is going to ask the Captain if anyone could be spared to help."

"Why don't I come along?" Ewan asked. "If they need help, I would feel terrible if I didn't help out."

Jennifer didn't expect Ewans offer. "Are you sure Ewan? This is going to be very dangerous, and..."

"Nope, sorry, I've made up my mind." Ewan said, his enthusiasm returning. "You need help, and I plan on helping."

"Alright. Thanks Ewan, you'll be a big help I'm sure."

"I'll wait here until Eliza gets back from breakfast, and then I'll meet you all at your room." Ewan pointed at one of the large drawers that lined the wall opposite to the beds. "Should I bring some supplies with me?"

"No, that's fine, Regals out shopping right now for everything we'll need."

Jennifer and Ewan said their goodbyes, and then Jennifer went back to Team Valiant's room to wait for the others to get back.

---

Isaac arrived at the Captains room, and found that the Captain wasn't alone. There was a Charmander inside his office talking to the Captain. When Isaac closed the door, they stopped and looked at him.

"Oh, you're back Isaac." Said the Captain. "I'm sorry, but I just can't find any information that might be helpful to finding Mewtwo's headquarters."

"It's ok, we know where it is now."

"That's great, we'll prepare all of the teams to raid the place, arrest everyone and..."

"Actually..." Interrupted Isaac. "We need to be teleported to the spot where they're keeping Lloyd, and I doubt th pokemon who's taking us will be able to transport that many pokemon."

The Charmander ran up to Isaac and jumped up and down in order to get his attention. "Wait, wait! Where are my friends? Did you save them?"

The Captain grabbed the Charmander by the shoulders to keep him from jumping. "Quit it Alistair, I already told you, they didn't find your team members!"

"Where are they then?!" Yelled Alistair. "I'm so worried... Oh man..."

"We didn't see your friends anywhere." Said Isaac. "They've probably been taken to the same place as Lloyd and the others. We'll make sure we look around for them."

"I wanna go too!"

"No way." Said the Captain, his hand still on Alastair's shoulders. "It would be a dangerous mission, and I don't think you of all pokemon would be ready for it."

"But... but... My friends! They need my help! I gotta help! Pleeeeaaaaase!"

The Captain sighed. "Its up to Isaac I guess."

Isaac thought for a moment. "I... I guess you can come. I wouldn't wanna be left behind if I was in the same situation."

"Yes!" He yelled, jumping up in the air after wiggling out of the Captains grip. "I won't let you down Mr. Isaac. I'll help in any way I can! I'll carry your bags, and I'll fight if you need me too, and... and..."

"Calm down!" Yelled the Captain.

Alistair gulped. "Yes sir. Sorry."

"Do you know where our room is?" Asked Isaac.

"Umm, yeah... I think."

"Go down and wait there."

"Right away Mr. Isaac!" Alistair said with a salute.

"And please, just call me Is..." But Alistair was already out of the room. "...aac."

The Captain walked over to his desk and took out what looked like an orb. Isaac followed him to his desk. "What's that?" He asked.

"This is a special Orb, called a Transport Orb. Using it teleports the user to where ever the Orbs twin is located. I'll take the other orb and a team of pokemon and wait at outside the prison hold, if you capture Mewtwo, bring him back with this orb." The Captain tossed the orb to Isaac, who caught it. "I wish I could come with you, but they need me here."

"I understand, we should be ok."

"Good luck on your then mission Isaac, bring back as many pokemon as you can."

"I will."

---

It was late in the afternoon, and the sun was almost down.

Jennifer, Isaac, as well as Ewan and Alistair, waited in Team Valiant's room until the time to leave came. Regal however, was running late.

"Where is he?" Asked Jennifer impatiently. "Celebi will be arriving any second."

As if waiting for Jennifer to ask that question, Regal burst through the door carrying several full bags. "I'm back!"

"Where were you?" Asked Isaac. "Did you forget we were supposed to come back around this time or something?"

"I didn't forget, I just had a lot of shopping to do." Regal dropped the bags on one of the beds. Inside the bags were enough food and supplies to fuel an army.

"This is a bit much Regal..." Said Jennifer, who was looking inside the bags. "I don't even know how you managed to carry all of this."

"Lots of practice I guess." He said. "I guess it is a bit much... But we can never be too careful."

Isaac handed Regal one of the teams bags. "Here, fill this ONE bag with supplies, and we'll take that."

"Alright..."

"So Isaac..." Started Ewan. "What's the plan?"

"When Celebi gets here, she is going to teleport the five of us to a system of tunnels beneath the building where the pokemon that captured everyone, Mewtwo, uses as a home base, and lab for experiments. Inside the tunnels are a bunch of especially dangerous pokemon that we need to watch out for. Once we find the place Celebi said the elevator shaft is located, we'll find a way to get up it, and then rescue everyone who has been taken by Mewtwo using the captains Transport Orb."

"Oh man..." Alistair said to himself. "This is scary... but... gotta stay focused!"

Just then, Celebi appeared inside the room. "I'm here." She said.

"We're ready to go." Said Isaac. "We're bringing two other members of the Brotherhood with us."

"Oh, hello." Said Ewan. "I remember you, the hurt pokemon Lloyd was so concerned about."

"Yes, and I thank you for helping me like that."

"Oh, it was no problem, really."

"Well then, if you are all ready, I'll teleport you all as close to Mewtwo's lab as I can." She said. "I will not be able to come with you I'm afraid. Mewtwo will easily sense me, and that would make saving everyone very difficult."

"We're ready." Said Isaac.

Celebi closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to target everyone in the room with her teleport ability. A moment later, everyone began to fade away, and soon they all disappeared.

---

The sensation of teleporting made everyone feel sick to their stomach. Nobody had even traveled like this before, and nobody was used to it.

"Ooooooh... That was unpleasant..." Said Regal, who laid on the ground holding his stomach. "I haven't felt so sick in so long..."

Isaac tried to stand up, but he was so dizzy that he fell right back down. "I think we should wait a minute... I'm not feeling so hot either."

Everyone who had been teleported was here, nobody was missing. Isaac looked around his surroundings, he saw that they had arrived right outside a tunnel entrance. A concrete tube that went into the mountains, with a paved road going inside. There was large piles of rusted scrap metal scattered all over the road, some of it piled neatly off to the side in large cubes.

"What is this place?" Asked Jennifer.

"It looks like the place the humans would take old junk to crush, and then just throw away." Explained Ewan. "A scrapyard is what they called it."

"Man... It really stinks here, smells like oil!" Alistair pointed out.

After everyone got a chance to recover from the teleporting, Isaac lead everyone to just outside the tunnel. "Alright every..." He said. "Be extra careful in here, and stick together!"

Everyone went inside, determined to find the way to Mewtwos lab.

Nearby, Mewtwo himself watched the pokemon enter the tunnel, not at all concerned about the invasion on his headquarters.

"Fools... You think you'll survive that place in one piece?" He chuckled to himself. "Even I wouldn't go in there without good reason."


	43. Attention all readers

For the few of you who might read this, I appologize for cutting the story off right near the intended end.

No, I won't be finishing it, I've pretty much gotten over writting. It was something fun to do in the library at highschool when I wasn't in class.

When I graduated, I spent a lot of time enjoying my freedom and gradually forgot about this story, it wasn't until I checked what is now an old e-mail address, which is the one I signed up to this site with, and saw some new noticfications for favorites, that I even remembered it existed.

I really feel bad that I stopped where I did. The last chapter was pretty much the start of the conclusion.

Honestly though, I wasn't really satisfied with the story. Lots of stuff got mentioned that never got brought up again because I either forgot about it or I later changed my mind about it. If I didn't suddenly stop, I would have probably redone the story entirely, cutting out what didn't work and basically refined everything. I had a lot of plans, but of course that didn't work out.

Maybe one day I'll feel like comming back to this and doing that remake, and of course finishing the story, but I wouldn't hold your breath for a sudden update. I'm at a busy part of my life, getting ready to move out on my own, so this unfortunatly is very low on my priorty list.

If you'd like to know how it was intended to end, I remember the bullet points of what was going to happen between now and the final chapter. Feel free to send me an Email at Penguingod7 at gmail dot ca


End file.
